Adelaide, December 14: West Indies leading batsman Brian Lara has declared himself fit to play in the third Test against Australia starting on Friday despite continuing problems with his injured hamstring.The world record holder for the highest Test and first class innings underwent a fitness test at the Adelaide oval nets today and a team spokesman said although he was clearly not 100 percent fit he had decided to play.''He's been around long enough and played enough internationals to know how he needs to feel to complete a Test match,'' West Indies captain Jimmy Adams said earlier when asked whether Lara would play.Lara's inclusion comes as a welcome relief to a struggling West Indian team who need to win the match to keep the five Test series alive after Australia won the previous two Tests by an innings.Their batsmen have all been struggling and their bowlers have been punished in all of their games. Even worse, they have as many as five players suffering various injuries although none was ruled out of the match.The only change to the team beaten in Perth earlier this month was the inclusion of 19-year-old Marlon Samuels for middle-order batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.Samuels arrived in Australia only a week ago after Shivnarine Chanderpaul suffered a foot stress fracture and has had just one first-class innings in three months, making nine against Australia A in Hobart shortly after his arrival.Chanderpaul had a bone chip surgically removed from his foot on Wednesday and will be sent home in a week's time.Lara has had a dismal run in the series with just 21 runs from four trips to the crease but returned to form with a magnificent double century in the tour game against Australia A.''That gave the whole team a real confidence boost,'' Adams said. ''It showed us what we have to do and while we're not happy with the state of the series at the moment we're looking forward to this Test with real expectations.''West Indian hopes of salvaging something from an otherwise one-sided series have been given a lift with Australian captain Steve Waugh and fast bowler Brett Lee forced to miss the match with injury.Wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist has been promoted to lead the side despite having played only 11 Tests while the selectors are still debating whether to play paceman Andy Bichel or a second spinner in Colin Miller while West Indies have again gone for four fast bowlers.By winning the second Test in Perth, Australia set a world record of 12 consecutive Test wins and Gilchrist said he was confident they could extend their streak to 13 by winning in Adelaide.''We believe we're good enough to do it as long as we keep doing the things we've been doing,'' Gilchrist said.''Winning's become a habit for this team and we don't want to stop now. I wouldn't want to be the guy who ended the victorious run and I don't think that'll happen.''While the first two Tests both finished within three days, the third Test is expected to go longer because of the Adelaide oval's reputation as one of Australia's best batting pitches although it should also suit the spinners later in the match.Teams(from)West Indies: Jimmy Adams (Captain), Sherwin Campbell, Daren Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon Mclean, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Courtney Walsh.Australia : Adam Gilchrist (Captain), Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Colin Miller, Stuart Macgill, Jason Gillespie, Glenn Mcgrath, Andrew Bichel.
