BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – West Indies’ embattled Champions Trophy squad left here Saturday for South Africa with a promise from captain Floyd Reifer that the team will “play hard” for the people of the Caribbean in cricket’s mini World Cup.
Minus its leading players due to the raging impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board and the players’ union, the West Indies Players Association, the squad flew out of the Grantley Adams International Airport in the late afternoon.
They leave behind a firestorm, with the bitter contracts dispute that led to their selection for the September 22 to October 5 tournament, still dragging on despite attempts aimed at ended it.
The squad, which contains players woefully short of international experience, have been given little chance of emerging from the tough group stage.
But captain Floyd Reifer, however, told reporters the team would be aiming to make the region proud with their performances.
“All eyes will be on the West Indies but we are going to go out there and play for the six million people of the Caribbean,” said the veteran Barbados batsman who has played just six Tests, two of them coming against Bangladesh in July.
“These people love cricket, they love West Indies cricket and we are going to go out there and play for those people. We don’t have to prove a point to everybody in the world, we’re just going to go out there and play hard for the people of the Caribbean.”
West Indies, coming off a week-long training camp at Kensington Oval here, are scheduled to arrive in South Africa today and will undergo another training camp in Potchefstroom until September 16.
They will then play two warm-up matches, first against hosts South Africa on September 18 before clashing with Sri Lanka two days later.
West Indies will open their Group A campaign in the Champions Trophy against Pakistan on September 23 before meeting defending champions Australia on September 26. They will finish against India four days later.
The squad contains the bulk of the players who were selected for the disastrous Bangladesh series when the top-tier players made themselves unavailable.
Of the squad, only Devon Smith with 31 Tests and Tino Best, 14, have played more than 10 Test matches.
SQUAD – Floyd Reifer (captain), Darren Sammy (vice captain), David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kevin McClean, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton.
