Rain puts cloud over cricket

Two days of incessant, torrential rain have dumped nearly two inches of rain on Kingston and put the weekend's first two One-Day Internationals in the Cable & Wireless Series at Sabina Park in some doubt.

The outfield was flooded in several places yesterday afternoon and the ground staff was unable to start proper preparation of the pitch that has had to remain under covers.

The inclement weather, caused by a cold front extending to beyond Cuba in the north, was forecast to continue at least into today. But it cleared late yesterday and ground officials said the ground should be ready for play in the opening match tomorrow, given sunny conditions today.

The West Indies have made two changes to their Test squad, bringing in fast bowler Corey Collymore for Adam Sanford and all-rounder Gareth Breese for his first international in place of Dinanath Ramnarine.

India have made a more sweeping reconstruction. Batsmen Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Virender Sehwag and fast bowler Ajit Agarkar have come in for Shiv Sunder Das, Deep Dasgupta, Sarendeep Singh and Javagal Srinath.