Zimbabwe physiotherapist Amato Machikicho is optimistic batsman Craig Ervine will be available for the two Twenty20 International matches of the International Home Series against West Indies this weekend.

Ervine suffered an asthmatic attack before the second One-Day International  against the West Indies in Grenada on Friday, and proceeded to play with a tight chest and general body pains which set in during warm up, and later on forced him off the field during the West Indies innings.

He remained under medication and was not fit for selection for the third and final ODI.

Yesterday, Ervine eased pack into training with a batting session in the nets at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds where the two T20 international matches will be played. However, he sat out the fielding drills.

“We want a gradual return that does not strain him so after he pulled through the batting session, I asked the coach to excuse him from the fielding,” said Machikicho.

Zimbabwe will be hoping that Ervine is fit for selection as he has been in a rich vein of form on the tour. In the first ODI, he was the second top scorer with 41 runs then upped that in the second when he led the Zimbabwe batsmen with 80 runs.

The tourists are looking at the short version of the game to get back into the tour after a three-nil defeat in the ODI series.

The T20 matches are on Saturday and Sunday.