May 21, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 15, 1429

KINGSTON, May 20: West Indies coach John Dyson lamented the loss of Marlon Samuels for the upcoming home series against Australia after the batsman was banned for breaking International Cricket Council (ICC) rules over links with bookmakers.

Samuels was slapped with a two-year ban last week after the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) disciplinary committee found him guilty by majority opinion of violating the ICC Rules of Conduct 4 (ix) in that he “received money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or game of cricket into disrepute.”

“I think the Australians were probably more suited for Marlon’s game than Sri Lankan attack and it is of great sadness (that) we won’t have him,” Dyson stated.

Dyson, who declined giving opinion on the ruling banning Samuels, said his presence in the middle-order will be missed.

“I think Marlon over the past five or six months played some very, very good cricket for us.

“I was hoping for team’s sake and for Marlon’s sake that against Australians, he would continue to play very good cricket.”—Agencies