THE West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith, who scorched to a 93-ball debut century at Cape Town, has emerged as a doubtful starter for the fourth and final Test at Centurion Park.
Smith's innings was all the more remarkable because he had earlier dislocated a finger while fielding, and had to cut a hole in his glove in order to bat. He has yet to recover from the injury, despite sitting out the recent tour match against Easterns, and would be a risky selection for the final Test because West Indies would not be entitled to a substitute if he aggravated the injury.
"Hopefully Dwayne will be able to grip the bat," said Brian Lara, "That's the most important thing." But for West Indies, his absence would be a major blow, after Wavell Hinds became the fourth player to fly home early, with a groin injury.
"A few guys are still injured," said Lara, "but we're expecting a wholehearted effort from everybody, with both the bat and the ball and in the field. Statistically, the series might be dead but we still want to improve a lot. We started the New Year positively by drawing at Newlands and winning against Easterns and we want to continue with that improvement.
The Windies' victory at Willowmoore Park was their first first-class win on South African soil, after a spectacularly awful tour in 1998-99.
But the win did not come without its cost, as Ramnaresh Sarwan and Daren Ganga both sustained injuries after being struck while fielding.
"Daren will be okay, there's no problem there," said Lara. "Ramnaresh is taking it slow, but he's played every game since Zimbabwe and he still has the one-dayers in front of him. You've got to commend that effort. He'll definitely play tomorrow though. His knee is okay." (Wisden Cricinfo Ltd)