ST JOHN’S, May 2: West Indies have named five changes in a 13-member squad for the five-match One-day International series against South Africa. Joey Carew, convenor of the West Indies selectors, asserted that the 2007 ICC World Cup hosts were laying the groundwork for selecting a winning side for that competition with the players selected.

“These eight games, five against South Africa and three against Pakistan, give us a chance to begin preparations for the 2007 ICC World Cup and we will be trying players in certain positions,” remarked Carew in a West Indies Cricket Board news release.

Carew noted that the selectors had brought back in players who were in the squad for the one day series in Australia, as they sought to build the squad for the World Cup.

The West Indies selectors have drafted in Ian Bradshaw, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Xavier Marshall, and Dwayne Smith for the limited-overs matches.

Tino Best, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, and Dwight Washington are the players in the current Test squad that have missed out on selection.

West Indies open the limited-overs series against South Africa with back-to-back matches at Kingston on May 7 and 8, before flying to Bridgetown for a mid-week clash on May 11.

They move on to Port of Spain to bring the curtain down on the Proteas leg of the tour with another back-to-back scrap on May 14 and 15.

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