Full turnout at WI pre-tour camp

BRIDGETOWN: In-house work with emphasis on team values occupied the morning session on Day 4 of the three-week West Indies training camp yesterday as all 25 players were present for the first time. Curious fans and media personnel who journeyed to the University 3Ws Oval, Cave Hill as early as nine o’clock either left and returned or had to wait until just after midday to focus on captain Brian Lara in particular and five other players, who did not arrive in the island until Wednesday evening.

The others having their first taste at the camp under new head coach, Australian Bennett King, were the Jamaican trio of Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds and Marlon Samuels, Guyanese Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Windward Islander Devon Smith of Grenada. The squad and management took lunch at the picturesque facility before getting into another tough session. Among those in attendance when the players arrived from their south coast hotel, were Nevis premier Vance Amory, who attended University of the West Indies (UWI) here as a student in the 1970s, and former top West Indies opener Desmond Haynes.

The camp is in preparation for the VB triangular one-day series with Pakistan and hosts Australia in January-February. Team manager Tony Howard said yesterday’s morning session at the Accra Beach Hotel lasted over three hours and was very beneficial. “We did some in-house work (yesterday) morning, looking at team values and stuff like that. We just wanted for the players to set some values for themselves, some principles by which we as a team will intend to live,” Howard told CMC Sports shortly after the full squad arrived at the 3Ws Oval in two batches. “We spent the morning finding out from the players what are the standards they would like to see the West Indies as a team uphold. It’s not complete yet.” First batch of players to arrive at the 3Ws Oval yesterday included Lara, Chanderpaul, Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Smith and Dwayne Bravo.

Anxious newspaper and television photographers had a field day in “shooting away” at Lara, who was sporting a new haircut, while looking very focused. Lara was among 16 players who had their invitations to attend the camp withdrawn on November 24 after a row between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and West Indies Players Association (WIPA) over contracts that they refused to sign. Both parties came to a temporary agreement after the intervention of Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who is chairman of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). Mitchell, Barbados Sports Minister Reginald Farley and officials of the WICB and WIPA held talks in St George’s last Friday. The WICB said some players had on-going contracts with giant telecommunications company Cable & Wireless, sponsors of the West Indies team for home tours between 1986 and 2004, and its rival Digicel, which now has a five-year US$20 million deal with WICB. The camp will continue today and tomorrow with a rest day on Sunday. All the players and officials have been wearing Digicel gear.