Travel Hiccups Add to Windies Woes

The West Indies new-look team had only one training session together before the first test against Australia after another round of WICB stumbling and bumbling sent a group of players flying around the Caribbean on a detour.

Officials from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) were at a loss on Thursday to explain why four players were sent backtracking to Jamaica after playing the final of the Carib Beer International Challenge final in Barbados on Monday instead of making the short hop direct to Guyana.

Jamaica is roughly three hours' flying time west of Barbados while Guyana is just over one hour directly to the south.

The result was that late on Wednesday night only seven of the players arrived in Georgetown where the first test gets under way at Bourda on Thursday.

The incident was the latest blow to the West Indies' preparations following the decision of former captain Carl Hooper to pull out of the team and the confusion over whether Jamaican opener Chris Gayle was eligible to play.

"Seven players arrived last night, four Jamaicans, two Barbadians and one Antiguan," said team manager Ricky Skerritt, adding that travel arrangments had been made in conjunction with the Jamaica and Barbados cricket boards.

But he added: "We are happy to have the squad here today and they are out there now working very hard and getting ready for the game."

Newly promoted WICB chief executive Roger Brathwaite said he would look into the incident. The team's travel arrangements are usually made by COO Michael Hall but, in this case, sources tell CaribbeanCricket.com the long delay in announcing the team led to the chaotic situation.

The travel problems came a day after Hooper, who was sacked as captain following first round elimination at the World Cup in South Africa, pulled out of the squad, saying he did not want to stand in the way of younger talent.

Jamaica's Gayle was overlooked after not making himself available for the domestic final against Barbados but the rules have been questioned with some commentators claiming that Gayle could have played and he may be back for the second test.

Captain Brian Lara admitted that the Hooper pull-out was a blow on both the batting and bowling fronts.

"We were depending on Carl Hooper to do a lot of bowling (as well), he's always been a good off-spinner," Lara said.

Referring to Gayle, he said: "We have got our best 14 players here for the test match. I don't think it was a premature decision by the selectors.

"Hopefully, Chris will be in the team for the second test."

* With information from wire reports.