England A's Busta Cup match against Guyana is set to be overshadowed by rumours that opposition captain Carl Hooper is poised to take the reins for the West Indies from Jimmy Adams for the forthcoming South Africa tour.

A West Indies Cricket Board spokesman has said an announcement will be made over the next couple of weeks, fuelling speculation that changes are afoot after the team's heavy defeats in England and Australia under Adams.

Hooper brought his side to Grenada for the match starting today after heavy January rains ruled out any home fixtures at Bourda until the end of the month.

He has not played in the Busta Cup since retiring from international cricket two years ago, when he made a sudden departure midway through the one-day series against Australia after his wife and daughter fell ill at their home in Adelaide.

But Hooper has returned to lead a strong Guyana line-up that includes Test batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan, who won the man-of-the-match award for his bowling in the drawn second-round match against Leeward Islands when he took six for 62.

England A captain Mark Alleyne was anticipating another slow pitch at the Grenada National Stadium in St George's and it is expected there will be several changes to the team that drew with Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain.

Alleyne said: ''The guys who have not played so far have been brilliant. They want to get out and play and I want to get them involved as soon as we can."

Alleyne was looking to go into the match with an extra specialist spinner and was set to give Lancashire's Chris Schofield his first chance on tour.

Essex's 20-year-old Durham University student James Foster was poised to make his debut as wicketkeeper after two disappointing matches for Chris Read.

Warwickshire's Michael Powell could come in after his arrival to replace the injured David Sales