St. George's, Grenada: West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin is counting on restored leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo to play a key role in the second test against England starting at the National Stadium on Tuesday.
Bishoo was recalled for his first test since 2012 as a replacement for left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who was dropped after a lackluster performance in the drawn first match in Antigua.
"He has been bowling really well in the regional tournament and has worked hard since he came back into the camp and I believe he will have a significant part to play in this match," Ramdin said after team practice Monday morning. "He bowls some beauties so let's hope we get a lot of beauties in this match."
Ramdin said the pitch for the match "looks a good one," but he expected help for the spinners on the fourth and fifth days.
Bishoo, 29, was named Emerging Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council in 2011 after an impressive start to his test career. He lost form, and his place in the team, a year later after 11 tests in which he took 40 wickets.
He was the second leading wicket-taker in the 2014-15 regional Caribbean Professional League with 61 wickets in 10 matches for champions Guyana. He is expected to be the only change in the West Indies XI which battled to a draw on the final day in the first test after being outplayed for most of the match.
Moeen Ali, the left-handed batsman and right-arm off-spin bowler, joined the England team here after recovering from a side strain picked up in the recent World Cup.
Head coach Peter Moores said his fitness would be assessed before a decision on whether to select him. If passed, he is expected to come in for off-spinner James Tredwell, who claimed four wickets in the West Indies first innings but only one in the second as Ramdin, all-rounder Jason Holder and fast bowler Kemar Roach defied England's effort to clinch victory on the final day.
England's most obvious problem in the first test was the failure of openers Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott in both innings.
Cook was dismissed for 11 and 13, and Trott for 0 and 4.
Cook's form remains a major worry. He is England's third highest scorer in tests with 8,447 runs dating back to his debut in 2006. But he has not had a century in his past 33 innings.
"I'm a resilient guy who tries to play each ball on its merits for as long as possible, that's what my success has been built on, and I remain desperate to set the tone at the top of the order with some runs," Cook said.
A crowd of 11,000 is expected, as many as half of them England supporters.
