Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul are probably sick, weary and tired of hearing about that day in Pune in 1996 when Kenya pulled off one of cricket's great upsets beating the West Indies by 73 runs at the ICC Cricket World Cup. Two others in that game, the Kenyans Steve Tikolo and Steve Odoyo will have opposite emotions - they probably smile with every mention of Pune. Today's clash at the new Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium in Jamaica is just a warm-up. But both teams will be aware of history and of the need for a good start to their final phase of preparation ahead of the World Cup's first round next week. Given that they have only two warm-up games - they will play India at the same venue on Friday - Skipper Lara and his selectors may well opt for their strongest team. Crucially, all eyes will be on batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who will be testing form and fitness on his return from injury. The 26-year-old Guyanese had only just recovered from a fractured foot on tour of Pakistan late last year which kept him out of January's short one-day tour of India, when he chipped a bone in his right thumb during the regional domestic season. Sarwan whose ODI average of 44.33 makes him the most successful batsman in that form of the game in the West Indies team is seen as key to the region's chances of success in the World Cup. Lara too, will be keen to spend time in the middle having not played competitive cricket since the end of January. Chris Gayle, Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Marlon Samuels - who will also be under scrutiny following allegations of being associated with illegal bookmaking in India - Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin will probably be asked to get the bulk of the runs. However, the selectors may want to throw the exciting young Trinidadian Kieron Pollard into the mix. The specialist bowlers will be drawn from pacers Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell with support from the medium pace of Bravo, Smith and/or Pollard and the offspin of Samuels and Gayle. The veterans, skipper Tikolo now 35, the 28-year-old Odoyo and Ravi Shah, 34, will be expected to lead the Kenyan batting, but there are a number of younger players who have grabbed attention just recently - not least the 20-year-old Tanmay Mishra. Experienced pacer Jimmy Ongondo and the wristspinner Collins Obuya will probably lead a bowling attack that will rely heavily on allrounders including Tikolo with his off breaks. The Kenyans, who upset the apple cart by reaching the semis of the Cricket World Cup back in 2003 and toured the Caribbean three years ago for the regional first-class domestic season with moderate results, are upbeat after winning the recent World Cricket League for ICC Associate teams. Not surprisingly they have again set their sights high. A point underlined by their coach, Roger Harper a former West Indies coach, who as a West Indies player was at the losing end in Pune, 11 years ago. Harper told journalists on Saturday: "I think if we came to the West Indies to make up numbers, we would come with our beach towels and swimsuits and we have not done that. We are here to play serious cricket and perform as well as we can at the World Cup". The message is crystal clear. Teams: West Indies - Brian Lara (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Devon Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ian Bradshaw, Corey Collymore, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell. Kenya - Steve Tikolo (captain), Thomas Odoyo, Rajesh Bhudia, Jimmy Kamande, Tanmay Mishra, Collins Obuya, David Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Peter Ongondo, Lameck Onyango, Maurice Ouma, Malhar Patel, Ravi Shah, Tony Suji, Hiren Varaiya. Reprinted from jamaicaobserver.com