India's tour of West Indies

The West Indies selectors have lost patience with out-of-form opening batsman Stuart Williams and have dropped him from the Test squad.

Wavell Hinds now looks set to open against India in Friday's crucial fourth Test in St. John's, Antigua, after being named instead of WIlliams in a 13-man squad.

The West Indies levelled the five-match series at 1-1 following a 10-wicket win on Sunday in Barbados but have resisted the temptation to continue with a winning side.

Left-hander Hinds scored an impressive 175 against the Indian tourists in a warm-up match in St. Lucia two weeks ago.

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India have come in for a barrage of criticism following their 10-wicket defeat by West Indies in Barbados.

Former Test opener Sunil Gavaskar described the team's performance as "spineless" and even dared to take star batsman Sachin Tendulkar to task.

He hit his 29th Test century in the second Test in Trinidad but in his last three innings has made 0, 0 and 8.

"Tendulkar is playing across the line so much. Even in the century innings, he was rapped on the pads often and was lucky to get away with a couple of appeals," Gavaskar commented.

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Legendary Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar has revealed the secret of his phenomenal success against quality West Indian fast bowlers of the 1970s and 80s.

"I guess it was my height - seriously," said Gavaskar, a 5ft 5in batsman who rose to fame with his amazing run-spree against the West Indies in his maiden Test series in 1971.

He was 21 when he compiled 774 in four Tests against Gary Sobers' West Indians with the help of four centuries at a Bradmansque average of 154.80.

Thereafter, the little master was just unstoppable as he went on to become the first batsman in Test history to score 10,000 runs before retiring with a world-record 34 centuries.

Miscellaneous

Pakistan's Mushtaq Ahmed must still be considered one of the finest leg-spinners in contemporary cricket.

But this summer he is plying his trade for Little Stoke, a club battling away in the PipeMaster North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Cricket League.

"All this depends on your fate. I am playing here in England and some one is playing in the national side," he told BBC Sport Online.

"I can only perform well, which I think I am already doing and the rest depends on the selectors," he said.

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Lancashire wicket-keeper Warren Hegg is hoping to force himself into the England reckoning. Alec Stewart is the favourite to be recalled with the gloves after James Foster broke his forearm batting in the nets at Chelmsford last weekend.

Chairman of selectors David Graveney, who will reveal the squad for the first Test this Saturday, has admitted that: "Alec's pedigree, in my opinion, puts him some distance in front of the other candidates."

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Rod Marsh believes England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff still has work to do to become an established player at Test level despite his improvement over the winter.

The former Aussie Test great, director of the ECB's Cricket Academy, told BBC Radio Five Live Flintoff was overdue to take the next step in his development.

"I think he has got a lot to prove because a man with that ability should be an excellent Test player," Marsh said.

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