BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) - On the heels of a welcome, resounding win over Pakistan with more than a day-and-a-half to spare in the first Digicel Test here and in the face of a couple injury concerns, West Indies team coach Bennett King stuck to his plans and held a practice session for four players yesterday.

BEST... replaces injured Fidel Edwards in second-Test squad

After Shivnarine Chanderpaul's side triumphed by 276 runs on the fourth day at Kensington Oval Sunday, King said he would be "doing some work with the bowlers" the next day.

Yesterday as early as 9:00 am, he returned to Kensington for a two-hour session with fast bowlers Reon King, Daren Powell and Tino Best, plus batsman Dwayne Smith, who also bowls medium-pace. Best and Smith did not play in the Test.

"They are pretty keen to keep trying to improve. If we finish Test matches early, whether we win or whether we lose, we recognise that we've got a lot of work to do and we are going to take every opportunity," King said.

Immediately after the presentation ceremony on Sunday afternoon - West Indies triumphed 37 minutes after lunch - there was a physical session for members of the side as well as a few reserves.

King later expressed concern over the fitness of fast bowlers Fidel Edwards and Corey Collymore, and to a lesser extent, ace batsman Brian Lara, ahead of the second and final Test starting on Friday in Jamaica.

Edwards, who grabbed five for 38 in Pakistan's first innings total of 144, managed just eight balls in the second innings while taking one wicket before heading to the dressing room with a strained hamstring. He did not return to the field for the rest of the match.

Despite a shoulder complaint, Collymore bowled 19 overs in the second innings including 13 on Sunday, while Lara, who made a superb 130 and 48, injured his finger.
"At this stage we have to see how everyone pulls up," King said.

"Fidel is obviously a concern and Corey Collymore with his shoulder is a little bit of a concern. Brian with his finger now, which happened late in the day, we are not too sure about that but hopefully all things being well we will field a pretty similar side (for the second Test) I would have thought."

King said the genuine pace of Edwards was missed in the second innings when Pakistan made 296 after they were set a massive 573 for victory, while he reckoned Collymore bowled without luck.

"I thought Corey Collymore suffering a little bit of a shoulder injury didn't get the rewards that he wanted but he certainly bowled some very good areas for us," Australian King asserted.
"We missed a bit of firepower with Fidel being out but hopefully things might be better for Jamaica.

"I think the balance of the quicks was not too bad if they had played for the whole match but certainly in the first innings we showed what balanced bowling attacks can do."

King described the match as "entertaining" as he pointed to totals of 345 and 371 by West Indies of which man-of-the-match Chanderpaul made 92 and 153 not out.
"The runs flowed thick and fast here for us and I enjoyed it myself," King said.

The victory marked the first in nine Tests for West Indies, whose previous success was against minnows Bangladesh by an innings and 99 runs, also on the fourth day, at Sabina Park in Kingston last June.

It was also the first win in five Tests for King since taking over as coach from former West Indies batsman Gus Logie late last year.

Under King's guidance, West Indies have found the going tough. They won only one match in the VB One-Day International tri-nation series with Pakistan and hosts Australia earlier this year under the captaincy of Lara.

Then, at home with a new skipper in Chanderpaul, they were beaten 2-0 by South Africa in the four-Test series, followed by a whitewash from the same opponents in the five-match ODI series and a similar fate in three ODIs against Pakistan.

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