GEORGETOWN, Guyana, (CMC) - The struggling Guyana batting will get the major boost it is has been longing for with the return of its two Test batsmen, West Indies vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the Carib Beer 2004 Series sixth round game today.

Also back in the side for the encounter with the West Indies-B at the Enmore Community Centre ground is leading leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo.

Nagamootoo returns after being dropped for the last two home games but without any official explanation from the Guyana Cricket Board.

His omission was generally thought to be the result of a fist fight he had with Lennox Cush on the team bus during their third round match in Dominica against the Windward Islands

The three come in at the expense of batsman Leon Johnson, fast bowler Rayon Thomas and spinner Hemnarine Harrinarain.

As was widely anticipated, Chanderpaul replaces Neil McGarrell as captain and will have Sarwan as his deputy.

The two are just back from the West Indies' tour of Africa and unlike a number of the other Test players have opted to play for their country rather than rest.

Their inclusion is crucial, as Guyana desperately need an outright win to stand an outside chance of qualifying for a semifinal place.

The experienced trio will add batting substance and depth for the Guyanese, who only have one score over 300 this season and registered their first win in the last game against Trinidad & Tobago.

With medium pace all-rounder Damodar Daesrath in his debut season showing great promise with the ball, it can mean he will share the new ball with Rayon Griffith.

Daesrath could get the nod ahead of Esaun Crandon since he can be considered a full-fledged batsman as well.

Zaheer Mohamed, also in his debut season, will most likely make way for Nagamootoo who should return alongside his long-time spin partner McGarrell, as the bowling spearhead.

A great irony in this game is with the difficulties Guyana face at the top of the order.

Neither of the two openers selected initially, Krishna Arjune or Azeemul Haniff, has been able to lend solid support to Sewnarine Chattergoon.

Ryan Ramdass, the young Guyanese right-hander, who many felt should have been in the Guyana squad, has been the leading batsman for the West Indies-B team, ending the last round as their leading run-scorer.

So far, though having gotten only a solitary score over 50 (91) he has accumulated 229 runs at an average of 28.62.

Arjune and Haniff, both struggling for form, have averages of 18.33 and 9.5 and a combined total run tally of 203 runs.

While Haniff was dropped upon the squad’s return to Guyana after the first three rounds, Arjune was retained and is expected to get another chance to get some runs.

In a team that is yet to register a century, Arjune’s 97 against Barbados is the highest score.

In eight other appearances he has managed only 68 runs.

Chattergoon, on the other hand has been decent without being spectacular.

His strokeplay has been decisive and it is his attempts at being ultra aggressive that has caused his undoing in the last two home games.

So far he has amassed 275 runs -- the most by a Guyanese batsman -- and is followed by Narsingh Deonarine on 268.

Deonarine has not been in the best of form but he is playing patiently and grafting his way forward.

In both home games, he registered half-centuries -- 70 runs v Leeward Islands & 71 v Trinidad & Tobago -- but failed to go on to hundreds.

Travis Dowlin, named vice-captain after the Dominica ‘fist fight’ shake-up, warmed to the role nicely, being the leading performer in the two home games, winning both the man-of-the-match awards for his fine all-round performances.

In the two games, he totalled 119 runs at an average of 39.6 and complemented that with eight wickets.

For the West Indies B, in fourth position on the points table, Jason Bennett, one of the tournament’s leading pacers, will be the Guyanese batsmen’s main threat.

The plan should be to nullify him and peg away at the others, inclusive of Dwight Washington, the Jamaican pacer with 16 wickets.

Bennett, a Barbadian, who has had much said of him in the regional media with his second impressive year for the West Indies-B team, has so far pocketed 19 wickets with two five-wicket hauls.

Ramdass apart, the WI-B batting will be heavily reliant on Danza Hyatt (213 runs) and wicketkeeper/batsman Patrick Browne (105 runs), along with captain Jason Haynes (157 runs) who has not yet gotten himself a half-century.

Shawn Findlay, the elegant Jamaican opener -- once he retains his place -- can also be destructive if he gets a start.

With Guyana’s two Test players back in the side, the crowds which were missing for their home games are likely to return.

In the Guyana v Leeward Islands encounter at Enmore, the pitch played low and very slow and is expected not to change.

TEAMS:
GUYANA - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Krishna Arjune, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Neil McGarrell, Vishal Nagamootoo, Damodar Daesrath, Zaheer Mohamed, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Esaun Crandon, Rayon Griffith.