West Indies name replacements for Sri Lanka

The West Indies selectors have announced the names of the two replacements for the injured Leon Garrick and Dinanath Ramnarine. They are the Jamaican, Ricardo Powell, and the uncapped Trinidadian, Darrel Brown.

Both players will travel to Sri Lanka today, and are expected to arrive in the early hours of Monday (Sri Lanka time). Garrick, who has been diagnosed with a heart condition, and Ramnarine, who sustained a side strain, are both en route back to the Caribbean.

Powell, 22, an explosive middle order batsman, is well suited to one-day internationals, and is expected to shore up the West Indies' batting in the middle. He has also played in one Test for the West Indies.

Meanwhile Brown, 28 on December 18, has never represented the West Indies, but is seen as a good prospect for the future. He is a right arm medium pacer, and a useful left-handed batsmen. He made his first-class debut in 1999 against India A and his regional one-day debut against Barbados last year.

Powell, a right-handed batsman and right-arm off-spinner, has 48 one-day internationals under his belt since making his debut at the 1999 World Cup. He has scored 997 runs in ODIs at an average of 23.73 with one hundred and four fifties. He has also taken four wickets at an average of 49.50.

This is the second consecutive tour in which at least five players have had to return to the Caribbean for one reason or another. Speculation is rife within the sports medicine community here in the Caribbean, about the cause of the spate of injuries which have beset the West Indies team - especially during the last two overseas tours.

The West Indies' first match in the triangular ODI series will be against Zimbabwe tomorrow, at Colombo. The LG Abans series involves the West Indies, Zimbabwe and hosts, Sri Lanka.