Lara advises West Indies batsmen

Brian Lara has been offering his former West Indies team-mates telephone batting tips ahead of this week's third Test against England at Old Trafford.

They Indies were beaten by an innings in the second Test in Leeds to go 1-0 down in the series.

"Brian still has a lot to offer West Indian cricket," all-rounder Dwayne Bravo commented.

"Anything going wrong with our batters, if he can't contact them, Brian will pass it on to me."

Lara, 38, originally hoped to play in the series in England but decided to retire after the World Cup instead agreed to make way for a new generation.

He is, however, keeping a close eye on how the team is getting on.

Any time we play without Shiv Chanderpaul, he's a massive loss for us because he's so talented

Windies coach David Moore

"He still has a big interest in the team's performance," said Bravo, who, like Lara, hails from Santa Cruz in Trinidad.

"At Lord's he was in the dressing room among the guys and it is very nice to know that even after he called it a day he still has enough time to come and make himself available to the younger players.

"He told me to keep my head up and to pass on some information, as far as batting was concerned, into the dressing room."

West Indies were badly exposed in Leeds in temperatures more reminiscent of early March than late May.

They have also been hit by the loss of Ramnaresh Sarwan, Lara's successor as captain, because of a shoulder injury.

Conditions appear to be more seasonal this week in Manchester, where Bravo hit 77 and claimed six wickets in the first innings in 2004.

"The weather is looking fine so far, the pitch looks hard and that is our kind of cricket, where the ball is coming on to the bat and there is bounce for the fast bowlers," he said.

Spin traditionally plays a significant part in matches at Old Trafford so West Indies will check on Chris Gayle's ability to bowl on Wednesday.

Gayle, who incurred a muscle tear in his side last week, is fit to play as a batsman, but perhaps not in an all-rounder capacity, which could mean fellow off-spinner Marlon Samuels receives a call-up.

Of Gayle, coach David Moore said: "If Chris can't bowl then we will obviously have to make some adjustments.

"We certainly want to try to get the balance of the side right and it looks to me like it might turn out there at some stage."

The batting will definitely be strengthened by the return of Chanderpaul, who has recovered sufficiently from tendinitis in his right knee.

"Any time we play without Shiv he's a massive loss for us because he is such a talented cricketer and the only one of our batters who averages over 40 in Test cricket," said Moore.

"He is one man who never gives away his wicket, if he gets out the bowler has obviously got him out and has had to work pretty hard to do it.