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The West Indies took one deep sigh of relief yesterday.

But they will have to wait until today before they know whether they can still breathe easily going into the first of the two Cable & Wireless Tests against New Zealand, starting at Kensington Oval tomorrow.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Merv Dillon both went through lengthy practice sessions in the nets at the Police grounds at Weymouth, testing injuries that threatened to rule them out of the match.

Chanderpaul, the tenacious, 27-year-old left-handed batsman, emerged with his left elbow pain free, according to team physio Ronald Rogers, and ready to take his place in the XI. But Rogers said Dillon's back stiffened up a bit after his bowl and a decision on his fitness would not be made until he undergoes another workout today.

Chanderpaul has been the West Indies' leading batsman and Dillon the spearhead of the attack throughout the long home season of five Tests and three One-Day Internationals against India and five internationals against New Zealand.

The news on Chanderpaul is a boost for a team buoyed by the 2-1 Test series triumph over the Indians and the 3-1 margin in the internationals against the New Zealanders.

But Dillon, Man Of The Match with eight wickets against India in the previous Test at Kensington last month, would be a serious loss.

The tall, lithe fast bowler was ordered by doctors to take a week's rest after he came down with a lower back strain during the fourth One-Day International in Port-of-Spain last week Wednesday.

It was the upshot of his heavy workload in which he has sent down 579.4 overs in the ten Tests the West Indies have played over the past six months, against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India. That's a demanding average of 58 overs a match.

If the verdict today is that the rigours of a five-day Test present too much of a risk, Sir Viv Richards and his new selection panel have two clear alternatives either Darren Powell, as one fast bowler for another, or leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo.

As the venue is Kensington, where Dillon and his three fast bowling accomplices routed India for 102 on the first day of their Test six weeks ago, the likeliest is Powell.

The strong, 24-year-old Jamaican was recalled from the 'A' team's current tour of England specifically to cover such circumstances, but he is yet to play a Test.

Nagamootoo's bowling would add variety to the attack and his left-handed batting would bolster the fragile lower order. He might have had more than one Test against India had he not strained a hamstring after the first and then been injured in a car crash in Guyana.

Chanderpaul, the tenacious, left-hander who is enjoying the best season of his eight-year career, took a blow on the left funny bone from New Zealand's pacy Shane Bond in the fifth One-Day match in St Vincent on Sunday.

It forced him to retire to make a hasty trip to the hospital for a precautionary X-ray but, once that revealed no break, only painful bruising, he returned to Arnos Vale to place his dramatic exclamation mark on the match.

He clinched the victory, and the series, with three boundaries and a single from Daryl Tuffey off the last four balls of the last over.

Chanderpaul has had more than his share of injuries recently. Ligament damage to shoulder and arm, a stress fracture of the foot that required an operation and a stiff back have combined to rob him of 17 Tests in the past three years.

With three hundreds and 562 runs at an average of 140.5 in the preceding Tests against India and another hundred and 180 runs at 90 in the One-Day series against New Zealand, nothing less than a full-fledged amputation would have kept him out of a match at the scene of two of his five Test hundreds.

Reinstated as opener for the One-Day Internationals against New Zealand, he will revert to No.6 where he amassed his runs against India, allowing Wavell Hinds to rejoin fellow Jamaican left-hander Chris Gayle at the top of the order where he scored 113 in his last Test.

Ryan Hinds, the 21-year-old left-hander who made a heartening debut in the two Tests against a strong Pakistani attack in Sharjah in February, with scores of 62 and 43, seems certain to be once more confined to dressing room duties.

© The Barbados Nation