KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, 11 June 2003 — West Indies have left out fast bowler Mervyn Dillon for today’s third and final One-Day International against Sri Lanka.

Teenager Jerome Taylor has been drafted into the one-day squad to replace Dillon, who will be rested for the two-match Test series, a spokesman for the West Indies Cricket Board said yesterday.

Taylor, 18, impressed the West Indies selectors by taking 21 wickets in six games in the recent domestic season.

However, he has played a single one-day game at senior level and is unlikely to be named in the final eleven ahead of fellow Jamaican pace bowler Daren Powell.

Dillon normally spearheads the West Indies attack and is the only member of the current squad who has taken more than 100 wickets at international level.

He took three for 39 in the first game against Sri Lanka on Saturday, but posted a poor 0-66 on Sunday when the touring side marched to an unbeatable 2-0 series lead.

The double whammy in Barbados has raised questions about the temperament of the West Indies team who are once again struggling to avoid a whitewash.

In the recent seven-match one-day series against Australia, the world champions stormed to an unassailable 4-0 lead before the West Indies produced their best cricket to claw back to 4-3.

Similarly, the West Indies went 3-0 behind in the Test series against Australia, only to produce a record-breaking second innings tally to avoid a whitewash in the fourth and final Test in Antigua.

The West Indies seemed on course to level the Sri Lanka series 1-1 on Sunday when Brian Lara’s majestic 116 helped his side to a towering 312.

Sri Lanka batted tenaciously to overhaul the total, but the West Indies’ wayward bowling and countless fielding errors helped the visitors to the finishing line.

“We seem to be wanting under pressure,” was Lara’s post-match assessment.

Sri Lanka’s decision to reshuffle their batting order seemed to pay off in the first Barbados double-header. Skipper Marvan Atapattu moved to number three as Romesh Kaluwitharana returned to the top of the batting order. The surprise appearance of Upul Chandana at number five paid off handsomely when he belted 89 off 71 balls at a crucial time in the innings.

Flower Blooms to

Down Pakistan

In London, Andy Flower showed Zimbabwe what they were missing as he hit a unbeaten 115 in Essex’s 50-run victory over Pakistan in their one-day match on Monday at Chelmsford.

The former Zimbabwe skipper — who retired from international cricket after the World Cup following his black armband protest against the regime of President Robert Mugabe’s regime — proved the impetus behind the county’s total of 284 for six.

However Pakistan can take little consolation from even getting to 50 runs of the total as they were facing a below strength Essex outfit, for whom wicketkeeper James Foster scored 56 to boost his claims to play in the upcoming one day series should Chris Read not recover from his broken thumb.

The only Pakistan batsman to make a fight of it was Yasir Hameed, who took advantage of being dropped on nought to go on and make an attractive 82 off 89 balls including nine fours. Flower had put on 90 with Foster for the second wicket and 95 with Ravinder Bopara for the fourth. He played patiently throughout before accelerating at the end to reach 115 not out from 128 balls with 11 fours for his first century of the season.

While the world’s fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar is set to complete his ban for ball tampering in the first One-Day International on June 17, he was able to play here and the ‘Rawalpindi Express’ took two wickets.

There were also two wickets for his opening partner Mohammad Sami and spinner Shoaib Malik, including Bopara after a brisk 46. After a narrow one-wicket win over Scotland in their tour open, Pakistan did little to improve their confidence against a team containing only four capped players ahead of three one-day matches against England.

Law Retained by

Queensland

In Brisbane, Australia, former skipper Stuart Law was yesterday retained by Queensland on their contracted player list for the 2003-4 cricket season.

Law, who led Queensland to their historic first Sheffield Shield win in 1994-95, has been on the slide, losing both the captaincy and his one-day position last season.

Law, who turns 35 in October, also struggled with the bat at first-class level, mustering just 237 runs in nine matches at 18.23 with a top score of 72.