Sarwan receives vote of confidence despite errors

Bridgetown, June 25: West Indies coach Roger Harper defended Ramnaresh Sarwan on Monday after the number three batsman was guilty of twice throwing his wicket away in New Zealand's historic 204-run test win at the Kensington Oval.

Sarwan's reckless attempts at pull shots led to a first-ball dismissal in the first innings and unhinged the West Indies' second innings reply at a time when the Kiwi bowlers seemed to be running out of ideas.

"They were two horrible errors there is no doubt about that. But sometimes we ask too much of players. I do not think that dropping Sarwan would be the right way to go," Harper said.

The West Indies defeat was the first in the Caribbean in 12 test matches spanning three previous Kiwi tours.

Sarwan came into the series averaging 45 in the West Indies' recent 2-1 series victory over India but managed to add just 18 runs to his first innings golden duck. West Indies skipper Carl Hooper echoed Harper's views.

"We have to be careful not to be too harsh. Sarwan is only 21 and it is inevitable that you begin to see cracks in his game.

"This is part of the learning process but he will play a lot of cricket over the next two years," he said.

The three-test and five-match one-day series against India, and a five-match one-day series against New Zealand, gave the West Indies a jaded look coming into the test match here on Friday.

The home team's most consistent wicket taker, Mervyn Dillon, could only play a limited role due to muscular problems in his lower back.

Harper confirmed that Dillon would not play in the second and final test beginning at Grenada's Queen's Park ground on Friday. But the coach dismissed suggestions that the West Indies should make other team changes.

"When you lose a Test it doesn't necessarily mean that you start chopping and changing... it was just a case of not batting well.

"If you concede a big lead against a side like New Zealand they are not going to let you off the hook," Harper said.