West Indies has recalled fast bowler Darren Powell from the A-Team's tour of England and added him to the squad for the opening Test of two in the 2002 Cable & Wireless Series against New Zealand, starting at Bridgetown's Kensington Oval on Friday.

Powell is expected in Bridgetown on Wednesday and will be cover should any of the niggling injuries currently affecting the bowling staff of the team prevent any one of them from playing in the Test.

Leg-spin bowler Mahendra Nagamootoo and fast bowler Mervyn Dillon, who was sidelined with a back injury for Sunday's thrilling limited-overs win over New Zealand in St. Vincent, were named as two changes to the squad that travelled on Monday from Kingstown.

The 24-year-old Powell has never played Test or limited-overs international cricket, but gains recognition from the selection panel, chaired by former West Indies captain Sir Viv Richards, after he captured 25 wickets at 20.20 apiece in this year's Busta Cricket Series for champions Jamaica.

Nagamootoo returns to the side after being out of international cricket for the last two months recovering from injuries sustained in an automobile accident in April.

He played in the opening Test of the 2002 series against India at the Bourda Oval in his native Guyana, but did not play in the second Test against the Indians at Port of Spain because of a leg injury.

During the "down time" between the second and third Tests against the Indians, Nagamootoo suffered a number of injuries during the vehicular accident and was ruled out of the series.

The second Test of the New Zealand series is to be contested at Grenada's Queen's Park Stadium, starting on June 29.

Squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Brian Lara (vice captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Darren Powell, Adam Sanford, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

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