1.   Andy Flower, the key batsman and a former captain, returned after a hip injury forced him to miss the third one-dayer.

2.   India will find it tough to win the competition without the batting skills of their key batsman Sachin Tendulkar.

3.   Key batsman Martin Crowe and bowler Simon Doull were not considered because of injury, joining long-term casualty Danny Morrison on the sidelines.

4.   Key batsmen Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul will return to the West Indies side for the vital third test against Australia, the West Indies Cricket Board said Wednesday.

5.   The Herald said Flower had found the captaincy too demanding recently as a key batsman, wicket keeper and team leader.

6.   With another key batsman, Michael Vaughan, sidelined with injury for several weeks, the bowlers have been forced to play their part too.

7.   He will be the key batsman and is quite capable of shielding the lower-order batsmen while trying to score runs at the same time.

8.   It never proved a realistic hope, despite some solidity from key batsmen Aamir Sohail and Inzamam-ul-Haq.

9.   But of real concern was the continued run of indifferent form by key batsman Robin Smith.

10.   They will sorely miss their key batsman, Aravinda de Silva, who has not arrived yet owing to his commitments to his English county Kent.