West Indies include Dale Richards in Test squad

The West Indies selectors have included one uncapped player - Barbados opener Dale Richards - in their side for the first Test against England which starts in Jamaica on February 4.

Richards, 33, has made an impressive start to the regional four-day competition with a hundred and a fifty in the opening three matches. He replaces Sewnarine Chattergoon, who opened with Chris Gayle in the recent series against New Zealand, and appears set to contest a top-order slot with Devon Smith, the left-hander, who has been recalled.

"The opening partnership has been a problem for us for many years," the chairman of selectors, Clyde Butts, said. "We have been looking for a partner for Chris Gayle for some time now. Dale Richards has been batting well over the years. He has been consistent. We want to see how he is going to operate at the highest level now. We have named three openers in the squad, and this shows that it has given us some headaches."

"I have been doing well for Barbados since the start of the season [WICB's four-day competition], so I had my fingers crossed," Richards said. "This season, I did not change a lot of things, but I have been able to concentrate a lot longer when I'm in the middle and that has been the reason for my success."

Butts also indicated that Smith could also be a contender for the No 4 spot. "The position at No.4 has been very troubling to us lately," Butts said. "Brendan Nash had a few good scores in New Zealand and he will probably bat at No.6. Devon batted for us at No.6 in last year's home series against Sri Lanka in Trinidad, and he got 50-odd, so it is a possibility he could bat at No.4."

Amit Jaggernauth, the offspinner who made his debut against Australia last year, is also brought back into the squad alongside the retained left-armer Sulieman Benn. Jaggernauth has an early chance to have a look at the England batsmen after being included in the West Indies A squad to play the tourists in St Kitts in their final warm-up match.

However, the strength in West Indies' attack is the pace line-up that includes Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards and Jerome Taylor along with 24-year-old Lionel Baker. Most of the players who featured in the 0-0 draw in New Zealand in December have been retained.

The allrounder Dwayne Bravo remains on the sidelines after ankle surgery but is hoping to return later in the series.

West Indies squad Chris Gayle (capt), Dale Richards, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell, Sulieman Benn, Xavier Marshall, Lionel Baker, Amit Jaggernauth.