West Indies v New Zealand - Series Preview

With scarcely a chance to draw breath following their tour of India, West Indies welcome New Zealand to the Caribbean for the first time knowing that a 5-0 whitewash would send them to the top of the ATG rankings. Garry Sobers' side really are the form team at the moment, having won their last four series, and one wouldn't bet against them putting the Kiwis to the sword over the course of the five Tests. Viv Richards' return to something approaching his best in the latter part of the Indian tour gives the batting line-up a solid feel, and the form of spinners Gibbs and Valentine provides the selectors with a variety of options in the bowling department.

In contrast to their hosts, New Zealand have won just four Tests in their entire ATG history, and one would feel that the tour will be largely an exercise in damage limitation for the Black Caps. John Reid retains the captaincy and leads a squad that contains two uncapped players in Andrew Jones and Tony MacGibbon, Jones being included at the expense of Bevan Congdon, whose run of just two fifties in his last 21 innings has cost him his place in the squad.

Current form (most recent result first)
West Indies WLWWW
New Zealand LDLLL

Previous series result
New Zealand 0 West Indies 2 (Season I, 3 Tests)

New Zealand Squad
JR Reid (c), MD Crowe (v/c), SL Boock, RO Collinge, J Cowie, MP Donnelly, BA Edgar, RJ Hadlee, AH Jones, AR MacGibbon, AC Parore, DN Patel, B Sutcliffe, BR Taylor, GM Turner, KJ Wadsworth.