PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC):

Denesh Ramdin will work with West Indies batting legend Gordon Greenidge as he attempts to resuscitate his slumping batting that has led to his weak form and resulted in the loss of his central retainer contract.

National selector Rangy Nanan said there were flaws in the 25-year-old's batting which they hope Greenidge could help to remedy.

"The TTCB (Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board) has decided to have Gordon work with Denesh because they realise that he needs some assistance at this point in time and they don't want to forsake him," said Nanan, a former West Indies off-spinner.

"He has talent but something is not going right with his batting and the board thinks that he can play much better than what we are seeing at present."

struggled badly

Ramdin has struggled badly with the bat in recent months, scoring a measly 159 runs in his last 11 Test innings, at a miserable average of 15.

The right-hander has scored a similar number of runs in his last 11 innings in One-Day Internationals and his last half-century was over three years ago. This wretched form forced the West Indies Cricket Board last week to dump him from the retainer contracts list for performances the selection committee considered 'less than favourable'.

Ramdin was one of six players slipping off the central contracts list along with Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Travis Dowlin, Narsingh Deonarine and David Bernard. Greenidge, regarded as one of the finest openers to have played the game, is a former chairman of West Indies selectors and Bangladesh coach.