Dear Sir,

Let me say how pleased I was to see how well the West Indies performed against South Africa in the first Test match in Guyana.

Despite the obviously weakened state of the team by the exclusion of Lara, Sarwan and Gayle, the players rose to the occasion and for the first four days had South Africa ‘on the ropes'.

Only disciplined batting by their opponents' most talented batsmen, Kallis and Gibbs, prevented West Indies from winning the match.

With the second Test fast approaching I must agree with former Test cricketer Michael Holding that Chanderpaul should retain the captaincy. He did a reasonably good job in Guyana and when one considers that the team's Test record under Lara has been poor I think this is the right time to make a change. Certainly the team could not do any worse.

In fact my team for the second Test in batting order would be: W.Hinds, C.Gayle, R.Sarwan, B.Lara, S.Chanderpaul, R.Hinds, D.Bravo, C.Browne, P.Collins, D.Powell and R.King.

On another note, congratulations are in order for the Big Cats - Devonshire Cougars. I was impressed with their perseverance and fortitude this season, despite losing key players they rallied together and overcame tremendous odds to finally land their first league title.

In one interview, midfield veteran Ryan Swan stated that this could well be the beginning of a Cougars dynasty. He may be right, particularly if Devonshire retain the services of coach Andrew Bascome for the next six years or so, create and maintain a vibrant youth programme and continue to produce national team players.

RECMAN