The West Indies camp is reporting that all-rounder Andre Russell will be fit for Friday's crucial ICC World Cup match against England at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton. He missed the rained out game against South Africa on Monday and will be hoping to get into the swing of things against the English.
Veteran allrounder Chris Gayle, who suffered from stiffness in his back after scoring a half-century against Pakistan, meanwhile continues to fight with back issues but will also be available to open the batting.
West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer said that Russell was left out of the clash with the Proteas as a “precautionary measure”, with the view of getting him in the best shape to face the tournament hosts.
“Andre will be fit enough for the game on Friday. The game against England is a big game for us,” said Reifer.
Russell has been bothered by a chronic knee problem in recent years which has limited his participation in the longer formats. He was picked primarily as a batting all-rounder for the World Cup but has had a major impact, bowling with pace and hostility in short spells against Pakistan and Australia.
He sent down eight overs against Australia and appeared in discomfort in the latter stages of that outing.
Barbadian pacer Kemar Roach, who came in for Russell against South Africa, looked good in his three overs that went for only 10 runs against South Africa and now the West Indies selectors will be faced with a headache as to whether to drop Roach for a returning Russell or ask all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite to sit out.
T&T opener Evin Lewis is also battling to be fit for Friday's encounter, as his finger has still not healed properly. He was replaced in the South Africa game by Darren Bravo, who had been dropped the previous game against Australia.
Even though he returned for the Australia clash last week, he subsequently missed the South Africa game after the injury resurfaced.
“Evin got struck on his hand in one of the practice sessions so he is still getting some pain, some severe pain from it as well,” Reifer explained.
“So he played the last game (against Australia), but he is still having some pain in his hand.”
Yesterday, the weather conditions improved in Southampton and the West Indies players had a light session before returning to the Hilton Hotel for some much-needed rest.
Meanwhile, England star batsman Jos Buttler will undergo an assessment on his hip injury today.
The right-hander bruised his hip badly while attempting to hit a six in his team's last game against Bangladesh. Buttler, who has already scored a hundred in the tournament, slapped a half-century against Bangladesh as his team rebounded from a defeat to Pakistan to win that match by 106 runs.
England management is confident that Buttler will be fine for the game on Friday but is taking no chances with so many matches still to go in the tournament. There is also a possibility that England may have to do without the services of all-rounder Mooen Ali for the game as well because his wife is due to give birth any day now. Ali was not picked for the last game against Bangladesh.