Blackwell desperate for an England dry run

Ian Blackwell will wake up today hoping the Caribbean's inconsistent weather will finally allow him the opportunity to stake his claim for continued England selection during the remainder of a one-day series which has been wrecked by rain.

Since the start of the seven-match series more than a week ago, the tourists have been restricted to 76 overs of competitive action. They beat the West Indies in the rain-reduced first game but the next two were washed out. Further heavy rain greeted them yesterday on their arrival in Grenada.

Blackwell hit a quickfire 27 to help England towards victory in Guyana but that is the only major contribution to a disappointing winter for the Somerset all-rounder. "I believe I'm good enough to be here, but I haven't had that much to do. It's an awkward situation being an all-rounder of the kind I am because when we're knocking off a small total I rarely get a chance to bat and if the seamers do a good job then I won't be called upon to bowl."

Since being named in the one-day squad at the start of the winter, Blackwell has played six matches and has only batted twice.

His role on the fringes was particularly underlined during the one-day series in Bangladesh before Christmas when he was only required to bowl six overs in three matches while Andrew Flintoff 's explosive innings ensured he did not have to bat either, although he has now been promoted to No6 during this series. He said: "I play a lot of golf and I know that if you don't play for a while it's damn hard to strike the ball as well as you'd like, and I think it's the same with cricket.

"It's been very hard to replicate match situations. You can have middle practice but you still know if you nick it you're not out, so it's one of those things that's difficult but you have to keep on doing your practice well."