Sebastien's unavailability weakens Windwards

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC):

Liam Sebastien will be missing in action for Windward Islands, when they face England Lions in the sixth round of the WICB Regional Four-day Tournament fixture, starting today at Windsor Park.

The 26-year-old all-rounder is not available for the contest because of a commitment at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill campus, where he is currently pursuing a master's degree in international management.

It is a big blow to the Windwards, who are fifth in the Championship on 29 points and will be looking to keep themselves in the frame for the semi-finals.

He has been leading the side in the absence of West Indies captain, Darren Sammy, and played a crucial role in the Windwards gaining first-innings points in their drawn fifth-round match against Barbados, as he scored 94 in the first innings and grabbed nine wickets to earn the Man-of-the-Match award at Kensington Oval.

His dad, Lockhart, the current Windwards manager and former batting star, has again challenged the batsmen to show more consistency.

"We secured first-innings points over Combined Campuses & Colleges (CCC) and Trinidad & Tobago and we lost these matches outright, and we almost lost the last match against Barbados," said the elder Sebastien. "I would like to see some consistency in the batting because I believe that we should have already qualified for the semi-finals. The batsmen need to concentrate for the entire four days. This has been our problem. We are not concentrating for the entire four days."

Wicketkeeper-batsman Lyndon James will lead the side, as he did when Sebastien missed the fourth-round match against Trinidad & Tobago with a hamstring injury. Young West Indies all-rounder Kavem Hodge will replace Sebastien. Hodge, the Most Valuable Player in last year's TCL Group West Indies Under-19 Challenge in St Lucia, recently returned to Dominica after a very successful three-month stint at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy in Australia.