Windies have quality reserves

That’s what West Indies Cricket Board media officer Imran Khan, thinks of the West Indies’ performance on the tough tour of Sri Lanka.

Speaking at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesteray afternoon shortly after the team arrived from London via British Airways, Khan said the boys gave it their best shot despite coming up short in the Test and One-Day series.

"We ended the series on a high even though we didn’t get to the final. The boys performed creditably especially in the One-Day series. They showed courage and commitment, two of the watchwords of the series. It was all about fight and grit on the field," he said.

Khan said the team were beaten but not disgraced.

The West Indies had to turn to a virtual third-string side after ten of the original 13 withdrew as a result of the deepening conflict between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) over sponsorship and players’ personal endorsements rights.

Written off as no-hopers in the triangular Indian Oil Cup after losing both Tests to Sri Lanka, the West Indies had a stunning victory over the home team and were within a whisker of knocking out Rahul Dravid’s Indians.

"It speaks to the depth and talent of cricketers in the Caribbean and shows that our reserves are not as weak as some people thought," he said.

The BA flight brought home Ryan Ramdass, Narsingh Deonarine, Deighton Butler, Renako Morton, Ricardo Powell, the find of the tour wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin and Barbadians Dwayne Smith and Tino Best.

"Some of the youngsters went up to the plate and put their hands up and made tremendous strides on the tour, learning cricket and getting better as they went along," Khan said.

The impasse resulted in the West Indies fielding a side without leading players such as Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards and Corey Collymore. Khan said he was in no doubt the people of the Caribbean would want to have a full-strength team for the tour of Australia later in the year.

"We will have to wait and see, won’t we?"