Samuels dropped from Windies squad for England tour

St John's, Antigua, May 3 (UNI) All-rounder Marlon Samuels has been left out of the 15-member West Indies Test squad announced for the upcoming series against England.

Ravi Rampaul and Darren Sammy were the two new faces in the squad which has five pacemen and two all-rounders but no specialist spinner.

Sylvester Joseph, who made his Test debut at Old Trafford in 2004, also makes a return to fill in the place left vacant by former capatin Brian Lara's retirement.

The England tour will be West Indies' first competitive action since a disappointing performance on home soil at the World Cup and the retirement of Lara.

The side will be captained by batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan and the first of four Tests begins at Lord's on May 17.

Samuels played eight of West Indies' nine World Cup matches and he scored 216 runs at an average of 30 during the World Cup.

He remains the subject of ongoing investigations by the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption Unit and West Indies Board following claims by Indian police that he had contact with a bookmaker prior to a one-day series earlier this year.

Chairman of selectors Gordon Greenidge said there was a need to rebuild a team for the future, but did not think wholesale changes were appropriate at this stage.

''Though going that way may have some validity, we feel that we still wish to compete creditably in England, rather than just go through what one might consider the rebuilding process.

''We don't want to have players totally out of their depths. We want to know that we can still compete even if we do not win the series, and at least give a good account of ourselves.

''We have made some changes, and we feel we have the right mix, and we are hoping that this mix will start the ball rolling as far as the redevelopment or redefining of West Indies cricket for the future,'' he said.

The Squad: Ramnaresh Sarwan (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Christopher Gayle, Sylvester Joseph, Runako Morton, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Devon Smith, Darren Sammy, Jerome Taylor.

UNI