da bet7： The hex that has firmly attached itself to the West Indies team hasstruck again
Tony Cozier18-Jan-2002The hex that has firmly attached itself to the West Indies team hasstruck again.Ramnaresh Sarwan, the 21-year-old Guyanese who is their finest youngbatsman, withdrew from the upcoming series against Pakistan in Sharjahlast night with a back injury that has bothered him since the tour ofZimbabwe and Kenya last July.The selectors hurriedly recalled Sherwin Campbell, 31, the Barbadoscaptain, former West Indies vice-captain and opening batsman with 51Tests to his name, to take Sarwan’s place in the squad of 22 for thefour-day practice match starting at the Queen’s Park Oval today.He has not played a Test since the series in Australia a year ago.Since then, he has struggled for form at both first-class and clublevel. But his overall experience virtually guarantees him a place inthe final 16 for the two Tests and three One-Day Internationals inSharjah from January 31 to February 18.Sarwan’s withdrawal came the day after the West Indies Cricket Board(WICB) convened a special meeting of its medical panel and otherspecialists along with team manager Ricky Skerritt and sportstherapist Ronald Rogers to review what it termed the heavy list ofcasualties from its most recent tours of Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.Five players withdrew from each, either just before or during thosetours through injury or illness.The loss of Sarwan further depletes a team already seriouslyundermined by the loss of its one world-class batsman, theincomparable Brian Lara. It also removes its fastest and bestoutfielder.Lara was eliminated after he dislocated and fractured his left elbowin an accidental collision with Sri Lankan fielder Marvan Atapattu ina One-Dayer December 15 near the end of his personally phenomenalperformance on the tour of Sri Lanka.He is expected to return for the home series against India startingApril 18.Only Lara’s remarkable return of 688 runs in the three Tests at anaverage of 114.66, with a double and two single hundreds, overshadowedSarwan’s 318 runs at 53.It was Sarwan’s most productive series since coming into the team withan unbeaten 84 on debut against Pakistan at Kensington Oval almost twoyears ago.Batting for the first time in the pivotal No. 3 position, at his ownrequest, the classy 21-year-old Guyanese had made a significantadvance. This comes as a disappointing personal setback.