Taylor looks forward

West Indies fast bowler Jerome Taylor will head to South Africa for his country's long tour in fine fettle after being the scourge of Zimbabwe.
The West Indies play three Tests, five one-day internationals and one Twenty20 game against the Proteas in a gruelling tour that kicks off with a day-night ODI against a Makhaya Ntini Invitation XI and ends with the fifth ODI on February 3.
And Taylor will be relied upon to reproduce his scintillating bowling form that saw him take 11 wickets in four matches in Zimbabwe, won 3-1 by the West Indies, with the fifth and final ODI rained off.
Manager Clive Lloyd named Taylor man-of-the-series for his haul at an average of 13.71, with a strike rate of 20.6. The bowler also picked up man-of-the-match awards in the third and fourth matches.
"This was a great series for me and I believe I am bowling very well at the moment," admitted Taylor.
"My confidence is high and the team is on a high as we move on to the series in South Africa," said the 23-year-old, who is on his second tour to the southern African nation.
"I'm happy to play a leading role and perform at my best for the West Indies. I enjoy representing the people of the West Indies and will be striving to go from strength to strength."
In the opening match of the series against Zimbabwe, Taylor took 2-68 in a shock defeat and in the second match he claimed 1-17 from eight overs.
But in the third match at the Harare Sports Club Taylor grabbed 3-18 from 9.5 overs and on Friday nabbed a career-best 5-48.
Meanwhile, the Caribbeans believe the lack of Tests on their tour of Zimbabwe will count against them when they move on to South Africa to play three Tests.
"We will just have to rely on our lengthy previous experience," acting coach Henderson Springer told reporters after Sunday's last scheduled match of a one-day series which West Indies won 3-1 was washed out.
"The lack of Test match opportunity in Zimbabwe means we were not able to make proper preparations. So our past experience in this form of the game will just have to suffice," Springer added.
Zimbabwe were excluded from Test cricket by the International Cricket Council three years ago after being embarrassed by defeats of an innings plus more than 200 runs by both Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
England had also refused to play Test matches against Zimbabwe, as did Australia, who were persuaded after lengthy negotiations to stay in Harare for three token ODI's.
Since then Zimbabwe have been confined to 50-overs matches, at which they occasionally excel, but not sufficient enough to be considered yet for a return to Test cricket, which may be some years away if at all.
The problem was caused by a strike of established players over selection disputes, pay, bonuses and conditions, which resulted in many of them departing the country or quitting the game. Two have since returned -- wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu and spin bowler Ray Price.
Dwayne Bravo, who took over the West Indies captaincy here after Chris Gayle strained a ligament during the second match and withdrew from the remainder of the tour, said he was happy with his team's overall performance, which gave some benefit to the players.
"We have certainly been helped by Zimbabwe to get ready for South Africa," he said, adding that he also gained useful experience in the art of captaincy.