Ganga Fills in for Hooper at ICC Meeting

West Indies 'A' team skipper Darren Ganga will serve as Carl Hooper's proxy for the Test captains' meeting hosted by the ICC on Monday.

According to a report in the Barbados Nation, the 23-year-old opener, who is already in England with the 'A' team, was designated by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to act as proxy for absent captain Carl Hooper. Hooper, who is at home in Australia won't be attending for undisclosed "personal reasons".

"It was unthinkable that the only vacant seat at such an important meeting would have been for the West Indies," WICB president Wes Hall was quoted as saying. Hall told the newspaper he was only aware of Hooper's unavailability through the ICC media statement late Friday and immediately acted to have his place adequately filled.

"Ganga is being fully briefed through the written submissions Hooper sent to the ICC for the meeting. He is a recent member of the Test team and is quite capable of participating fully in the discussions."

Hall said vice captain Brian Lara was on vacation and unable to attend. The swift move has alleviated some of the embarrassment caused by the ICC's announcement that the West Indies would be the only Test team without a representative.