NEW AMSTERDAM, Guyana, CMC - As Guyana and most other teams are strengthened by the return of their West Indies players, Trinidad & Tobago have gotten significantly weaker for their Carib Beer Series sixth-round clash against Guyana starting today.

The West Indies trio of champion batsman Brian Lara (hand), Ricardo Powell (hamstring) and Mervyn Dillon (knee) are injured and will miss out. In addition, exciting opener Sherwin Ganga has been forced out after being hit on the chin by Jamaican pacer Darren Powell in the last match while there seems to be confusion as to why two of three others were not included.

Shazam Babwah, Imran Jan and Dave Mohammed were reported to have been excluded on disciplinary grounds but coach David Williams told the local media in Guyana that Jan and Mohamed were injured.

Babwah's father died during the last round and the player left the team after the first day of the game at Alpart Sports Club, to be with his family in Trinidad.

The return of Dwayne Bravo, the inspirational all-rounder, is the one area of significant pleasure for the Trinidadians, who lie third in the standings on 24 points.

However Bravo, carrying a shoulder injury from Australia will not be able to bowl or throw with power, which is likely to affect his world renowned athleticism in the field. His forceful middle order batting though will be a handsome benefit for T&T.

Captain Darren Ganga who has only tallied 141 runs with one half-century thus far, will need to put more runs on the tins especially with his younger brother, Jan and Babwah all missing.

TEAMS:

GUYANA: S Chanderpaul (captain), R Ramdass, S Chattergoon, R Sarwan, N Deonarine, A Fudadin, D Daesrath, M Nagamootoo, V Nagamootoo, E Crandon, R King, L Cush and I Jafarally.

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: D Ganga (captain), I Khan, L Simmons, D Bravo, J Augustus, G Mahabir, D Ramdin, R Kelly, R Emrit, A Jaggernauth, R Bachan, K Lynch, S Badree.

Executive Class

Gardens with Gravel

Necessary Luxury