England A's hopes of completing their second Busta Cup victory were dealt a blow when both Aftab Habib and Graeme Swann were ruled out of the fourth-round match against Barbados starting today with injury.

Graeme Swann Photo Paul McGregor

Middle-order batsman Habib suffered a recurrence of an old shoulder injury while the Northamptonshire spinner Swann, who was called up to replace Jason Brown, bruised a rib during a team warming-down exercise in Grenada and was due to see a specialist in Bridgetown yesterday afternoon.

While Swann has not bowled since the end of the English domestic season, the loss of Habib is a major setback after he made two half-centuries in the competition so far.

"This is a blow for us," admitted skipper Mark Alleyne who will return to the side after missing the previous game against Guyana.

"With Jason Brown going home, Graeme would have given us good off-spin cover if he had been fit and Aftab has been playing well in the middle order. We could do with someone of his temperament to solidify the middle order but we have a lot of talented guys here so I'm sure someone else will get a chance."

Alleyne confirmed that James Foster will be retained as wicketkeeper after a promising debut in which he made a half-century and held his catches but the balance of the bowling attack was keeping the players guessing until the team meeting last night after an inspection of the Kensington Oval pitch.

"Barbados has got a great cricket tradition in the Caribbean and they come in on the back of a victory against a West Indies B side so will come in with all guns blazing after starting off the competition with a couple of disappointments. This is a crucial game for them and they know it," said Alleyne.

"I'm not sure how quick the wicket will be but the bowlers should have more pace than we have seen so far. The three Barbados quickies have all had a taste of international cricket and have all got good pace but whether the pitch helps them remains to be seen.

"I am sure the cricket will be a bit more exciting in this game. It wasn't very impressive in the Guyana match but they did add to that by having eight-one fields and bowling wide of the off stump, which was a shame. So hopefully we can get things a bit more clinical in this game and have a good contest."

For Alleyne himself, the match holds special interest since it will be the first first-class fixture he has played in the country where he spent most of the first 15 years of his life.

His mother Hyacinth still lives on the island and the former Harrison College pupil has been busy visiting family and friends, including Barbados captain Ian Bradshaw who also attended Harrison.

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