KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC):

West Indies have fortified their batting by bringing Ryan Hinds and Lendl Simmons in to their squad for the second Test against England, starting on Friday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

Though West Indies would have few complaints about their batting in the opening Test which they won by an innings and 23 runs at Sabina Park to take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series, Hinds and Simmons have been rewarded for strong performances in the last few weeks.

They replace Xavier Marshall and Amit Jaggernauth in the squad with the injury to uncapped opener Dale Richards ruling him out of consideration for selection.

Marshall, whose place in the side was under serious question, did his chances no justice when he fell for a two-ball duck in the only innings West Indies batted, and off-spinner Jaggernauth did not play and was sent home to take part in the WICB regional four-day competition on the weekend.

But Hinds and Simmons have done their causes no harm with productive batting in recent matches.

Hinds currently leads the batting aggregates in the regional first-class competition with 585 runs for his native Barbados at an average of 83.57. This includes a career-best 240 against the Leewards, and 134 against Guyana on the weekend.

He has also taken 18 wickets at 18.66 with his left-arm spin, and when the squad for the first Test was announced, chairman of selectors Clyde Butts noted that Hinds would be a perfect fit in the West Indies middle order once he shows he is committed.

Simmons has played eight one-day internationals for West Indies, but he must now feel his Test debut is imminent, following a first-class career-best 282 for West Indies-A in England's second tour match in St Kitts/Nevis just prior to the first Test.

Squad: 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.