Young West Indian players Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ricardo Powell, Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga have been included in the three Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy sides to play practice matches against Tasmania in Adelaide next week.

The four former internationals, each in Adelaide for a six-week stint as part of the Academy's overseas player program, will add excellent batting depth to a squad that already contains some of Australia's finest young cricketing names. Also adding spice to the Academy sides are senior state squad members Michael Clarke (NSW), Luke Williams (SA) and Paul Rofe (also SA) and another exciting young West Indian player - Jamaican-based all-rounder Jermaine Lawson.

Sarwan, Powell and Gayle were all members of the West Indian party which recently toured England, while Ganga is no stranger to the international arena either, having already appeared in four Tests and two one-day internationals in his short career. All are hard-hitting batsmen; Gayle an opener and Sarwan, Powell and Ganga predominantly middle order players.

For Tasmania's part, the inclusion of the internationals can only help it in its campaign to prepare itself adequately for the beginning of the Australian domestic season. The three matches against the Academy are of particular importance in the Tigers' countdown to their opening appearance of the domestic summer - a Mercantile Mutual Cup clash against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval on 14 October.

Ball-by-ball coverage of the first of the three matches between the Tasmanians and the Academy sides - at Adelaide Oval 2 on 9 October - will be carried live by CricInfo. The other two matches (on 10 October and 11 October) will be played at the city's Park 25 ground.

The full Academy sides are as follows:

Match 1: Gayle (West Indies), Ganga (West Indies), Sarwan (West Indies), Shane Stanton (NSW), Phil Jaques (NSW), Andrew Kent (VIC), Chris Hartley (QLD), Nathan Hauritz (QLD), Adam Voges (WA), Oliver Thomas (SA), Adam Griffith (TAS), Damien Mackenzie (QLD).

Match 2: Powell (West Indies), Gayle (West Indies), Ganga (West Indies), Lawson (West Indies), Clarke (NSW), Shane Watson (QLD), Andrew Kent (VIC), Stanton (NSW), Hauritz (QLD), Voges (WA), Griffith (TAS), Thomas (SA).

Match 3: Sarwan (West Indies), Powell (West Indies), Williams (SA), Jaques (NSW), Clarke (NSW), Kent (VIC), Hartley (QLD), Voges (WA), Andrew MacDonald (VIC), Watson (QLD), Griffith (TAS), Rofe (SA).

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