Sydney: Australian skipper Steve Waugh says he intends to play in the second cricket Test against the West Indies starting in Port of Spain on Saturday despite a gashed hand which required six stitches, it was reported here on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old campaigner split the webbing between his index and middle fingers as he attempted to stop a hot cover drive from West Indies opener Devon Smith in the opening Test in Guyana.

"It's sore. There's six stitches in it," Waugh said when asked by Australian Associated Press on Tuesday following Australia's nine-wicket win in the first Test.

"It's going to be sore for a week. You still have to be able to hold a bat properly and I have to be able to do justice to my position in the side."

Waugh's toughness is legendary in cricket.

A shattered nose didn't keep the Australian captain out of a Test in Sri Lanka almost four years ago after a mid-field collision with a teammmuscle.

Copyright AFP 2001

Extras:
Day one is what put us in a great position: Waugh ate and he only missed one Test in England despite tearing a hole in his calf