April 5, 2003	Saturday	Safar 2, 1424

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GEORGETOWN, (Guyana), April 4: Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh said his favoured team would have to work harder for victory in the Caribbean, but he had no doubt they will play well.

The Australians, who arrived without ace fast bowler Glenn McGrath and middle-order batsman Damien Martyn, opted not to practice Thursday as planned.

Waugh said it was always difficult for teams to triumph in the region, where the facilities differed and the fans stood staunch behind their West Indies players.

“We’ve got to work harder. It’s not a place you can just come and just expect to win,” Waugh said, as Australia prepared for a tour including four Test matches and seven one-day internationals.

“This time we are obviously clear favorites, and ... people expect us to play well and we expect to play well.”

The first Test starts at the Georgetown Cricket Club on April 10, but the Australians will have a three-day warm-up match starting Saturday against Carib Beer XI, a squad including top players except those from Jamaica and Barbados, who are playing in the regional Carib finals.

Australian manager Steve Bernard said McGrath’s absence would be a setback, but that other fast bowlers are capable of rising to the challenge.

Paceman Brad Williams replaced McGrath, who returned home to be with his wife, Jane, who has been diagnosed with a secondary cancer infection in her hip, according to an Australian Cricket Board statement Thursday.

“All indications are that with treatment, she will have a full recovery,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Damien Martyn, who has been ruled out of four-Test series due to finger injury, will be replaced by either Darren Lehmann or Martin Love, Waugh said, as the Australians were likely to stick with employing three pacers and one spinner regardless of the pitch.

The Aussies are going up against a West Indies squad under new captain Brian Lara, and are eager to reclaim the No. 1 position on the International Cricket Council’s rankings.

The West Indies was slaughtered by Australia 5-0 in Australia two years ago.

Meanwhile, Australia have dropped Damien Martyn from their squad for the four-Test tour of the West Indies because the batsman has failed to recover from a broken finger sustained at the recent World Cup.

Michael Clarke from New South Wales was named on Friday as Martyn’s replacement. The uncapped 22-year-old will travel to the West Indies during the weekend, the Australian Cricket Board (ACB) said in a statement.

The first Test starts in Guyana on April 10. Martyn, a veteran of 33 Tests, was expected to join the squad next week after receiving further treatment in Perth.

“The fracture will need protection for up to four weeks, after which we are hopeful the healing process has taken hold and he is fit enough to be available for one-day international selection,” Australia team physiotherapist Errol Alcott said in the statement.

Martyn told reporters in Perth on Friday: “I was hoping to be on the plane next week ... The news didn’t come back what I needed to hear.

“That is always the risk when you get injured now, there are a lot of great players around and you can’t just walk back into the side,” the 31-year-old added.

Martyn scored an unbeaten 88 in Australia’s World Cup final win over India in Johannesburg on March 23 despite fracturing his finger in a match against Kenya eight days earlier.

The right-hander has a Test average of 46.51 with five centuries.

Australia are also weakened by the absence of paceman Glenn McGrath and leg-spinner Shane Warne, who have taken 913 Test wickets between them.

McGrath, 33, has returned to Sydney to comfort his wife Jane, who has a cancer infection in her hip.

Uncapped Western Australia fast bowler Brad Williams, 28, is on his way to Guyana as a temporary replacement for McGrath.

Warne was handed a 12-month doping suspension in February after the 33-year-old tested positive for diuretics.

Clarke was the fourth-highest scorer in the 2002-03 Australian four-day competition with 763 runs at 47.68. The fresh-faced lad from Sydney’s western suburbs made an unbeaten 39 against England in January in his one-day international debut.

“Whether I play or not is irrelevant. It’s just such a great opportunity to be on a tour with so many great players,” the former Australia under-19 captain told reporters in Brisbane.—Agencies

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