"There's a lot of pressure on us": Hooper

Georgetown, April 10: West Indian skipper Carl Hooper would have preferred pitches with more pace and bounce for the Test series against India but being unable to do anything about it now, will still concentrate on a predominantly pace attack.

"The problem with the wickets here over the years has been that they have been low on bounce and pace. It has been worrying for the development of our cricketers in the Caribbean," Hooper said on Tuesday during his team's first practice session.

Hooper said he would still have at least three pace bowlers in his final eleven, if not four, for the first Test starting on Thursday.

"We hope to have a pace-backed attack but we are also looking at the balance of the squad. We have got four quicks, probably can play three at a time and we have an option of a leggie (Mahendra Nagamootoo)," he said.

The skipper admitted there was a lot of pressure on his team to improve its performance, especially since it was playing on home turf this time.

"There is a great pressure from your family, friends and relatives, not to speak of the home audience. There is more pressure because there are more people coming out to support. But as long as you do well, it doesn't matter whether you play at home or abroad. You can only do your best," he said.

The team's first practice session at the Police Ground on Tuesday could have not been more disjointed. First, three Trinidadian players in the squad, Brian Lara, Mervyn Dillon and Marlon Black were held back at home because there were not enough seats in the aircraft which brought the rest of the team to Georgetown.

Then Hooper himself came an hour late, still trying to recover his breath after the exertions in Jamaica where he led Guyana to a Busta shield title win against the home team last week.

Lara, along with two other fellow Trinidadians, did arrive in the Capital in the afternoon and straightaway drove down to the ground where he had a bit of practice at the fag end of the session. A goodly crowd, on thus being suitably rewarded by the sight of their hero, yelled out a good cheer on his arrival.

This was Lara's first session with the West Indies squad in almost six months since injuring his elbow in a collision with Marvan Atappattu in a one-day international in Sri Lanka earlier this year.

Hooper was obviously very pleased with the return of Lara and predicted a good series for the left-hander. "He is a class player, just in the same class as Sachin. The last tour he played, he was by far the most outstanding player in both the sides. It is good to have him back for the Indian series," Hooper said.

The skipper said he was looking forward to a good personal performance from himself too. "I haven't done too badly but I am looking to push out against the Indians, to get the three- figures more often. I think that's very important. There are a lot of players who are getting out in the 50s and 60s. It is very important to pile up huge scores against the opposition," he said.

Dismissing the talk of inexperience in the his team's batting line-up, Hooper had a few words of praise for his young batsmen Stuart Williams and Ryan Hinds and wicketkeeper Junior Murray.

"Williams has had a wonderful Busta Cup where he scored 970 runs with four hundreds. He more or less has picked himself. Junior Murray has had four hundreds at first class level this year and is in tremendous touch," he said.

"Hinds is one of the young players we introduced in Sharjah. He is a wonderful player, beautifully slotted in at nuber six or seven. In addition to this, he is a wonderful fielder and a left-arm orthodox spiner. He is a big plus for us and brings in a new dimension to the team," Hooper said.