BRIDGETOWN (Barbados), Feb 25: England face a few selection dilemmas in the run-up to the pivotal fourth Test against the West Indies, starting on Thursday at the Kensington Oval.

England trail in the five-Test series 0-1, following an innings and 23-run victory in the opening Test at the Sabina Park in Jamaica, the abandonment of the second Test at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, and a draw in the third Test at the Antigua Recreation Ground.

But leading all-rounder Andrew Flintoff is sidelined with yet another injury and wicket-keeper Matt Prior is on paternity leave following the birth of his first child which leaves a couple of huge voids in the visitors’ line-up.

The keeping position is an easy solution with Tim Ambrose already confirmed to replace Prior behind the stumps, but how they handle the chasm left by Flintoff is not so straightforward for England.

The problem is to find a combination that would allow them to take 20 wickets in a Test they need a victory in to keep alive their desire to win the series — and this means deciding on four or five frontline bowlers.

Had Prior been available, England could have easily chosen five bowlers, but Ambrose is making his first Test appearance for over a year, and there is a feeling that they may be taking a chance with the batting if they pack the attack.

England are most likely going to choose four frontline bowlers, but this also poses a challenge because off-spinner Graeme Swann and fast bowler Steve Harmison, two bowlers they expect to play a big role, have raised the injury threat level in the last few days.

Swann has a recurring elbow injury which flared up during the previous Test at the ARG, and Harmison has been complaining about his back.

Both have been cleared to play, but England also know they can ill-afford to lose them in the middle of the match.

The batting dilemma appears to be more straightforward with recent addition Ravi Bopara seemingly nailing down a place at No 6, following his hundred in the two-day tour match against the Barbados Cricket Association President’s XI mere hours following his arrival from a more than 40-hour trip from New Zealand.

Comparatively, the West Indies have no such issues, but their biggest challenge is overcoming themselves, and not falling into the lethargy that plagued them over the first four days of the ARG Test.They are cautiously optimistic that they can lift their game to the heights required to win the Test and complete a rare Test series victory.

They admit that they are still capable of having bad days — like the first four in the third Test at the ARG — but have shown a greater consistency over the last year when they can rise to the challenge and play brand of cricket that can make them dangerous.

The main concern remains the batting, and putting the kind of total on the scoreboard that can put pressure on the opposition and put them in a winning position.

The last seven Tests at the Kensington Oval, where the pitch is typically hard, true, and offers a lot more bounce than elsewhere in the Caribbean have all produced results.

England would be encouraged to know that the West Indies have been on the wrong side of five of them.

Teams (from):

WEST INDIES: Chris Gayle (captain), Lionel Baker, Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Ryan Hinds, Brendan Nash, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Jerome Taylor.

ENGLAND: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook (vice captain), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Steve Harmison, Amjad Khan, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Adil Rashid, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe).

TV umpire: Daryl Harper (Australia).

Match referee: Alan Hurst (Australian).—AFP