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Piyush Chawla will attend the bowlers camp in Mysore © AFP

Piyush Chawla, the Uttar Pradesh legspinner, and Pankaj Singh, the 22-year-old Rajasthan fast bowler, have been asked to join the five-day bowlers camp in Mysore starting on June 4th. Former India seamer Venkatesh Prasad, who was the team’s fast bowling during the recent visit to Bangladesh, would assist the 14 bowlers.Chawla was to leave last night for Australia where here was scheduled to train at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane along with Tamil Nadu medium pacer Yomahesh and Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.It was also speculated that Chawla had been advised to cancel his Australian sojourn since he could be named in the Indian squad for the one-day internationals against South Africa and Pakistan later this month. That team was to be picked on June 11.Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who were part of the originial list, would not take part in the camp as they would be playing in the Afro-Asia Cup. Sreesanth, who has been included in the Asia squad for the lone Twenty-20 International against Africa on June 5, would join the group the following day. The camp would be held at Infosys Complex and stringent security has been put in place.The batsmen’s camp would be held from June 9 to 12 at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.The 14 bowlers to train at the camp: Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Pankaj Singh.

‘Too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon’ © Getty Images

It may not have been all that tough for Shivnarine Chanderpaul to relinquish the West Indies captaincy. Except for any superficial damage to his ego, it was his only real option after a turbulent year in which he enjoyed only one Test victory and two one-day wins. Would it have been any different if he and his team had held their nerve and won the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park?Probably, but the fact that they didn’t reinforced the belief that this is a side that has become so accustomed to losing that they are almost paralysed by anxiety in a tight situation. The fact that there is no obvious successor, and really hasn’t been for the last five years, speaks volumes, not just about the parlous state of the game, but the quality of individuals being produced by West Indian societies.Despite all of that, the West Indies Cricket Board must announce the new captain sooner rather than later. We can do without all sorts of wild speculation over the coming days, especially with the start of the seven-match limited-over series against Zimbabwe just two weeks away.Even if I still believe that Wavell Hinds will do a good job, I have to concede that going the way of picking a captain who is not an automatic selection in the final XI is unprecedented in contemporary West Indies cricket and would probably create more problems that it solves. For all of his apparent reluctance to take on the responsibility, too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon.As vice-captain for most of the last three years and an established batsman in the middle-order, the 25-year-old “veteran” has enjoyed a free ride-seniority without real responsibility-for long enough. It may bring the best out of him and we will all say why the decision wasn’t made earlier. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the burden of leading a team that will still be losing much more than winning for some time could take a toll on his confidence and his batting, much in the same way as Chanderpaul has been affected.But like ending one footballer’s World Cup dream in a month’s time, tough decisions have to be made with an eye to the future. Unlike the legal profession, you can’t opt for a course of action, lose and then interpret it as a victory. Only politicians and their rabid following fall for that nonsense.

Somerset 345 for 6 (Smith 108, Jayasuriya 101) beat Australians 342 for 5 (Ponting 80, Hayden 76)
Scorecard

Ricky Ponting: an emphatic statement spectacularly backfired © Getty Images

On Monday it was Australia’s batsmen who imploded in spectacular fashion. Today, as if to prove a point, it was the turn of the bowlers. Somerset, powered by two brilliant centuries from their international imports, Sanath Jayasuriya and Graeme Smith, chased down a monumental target of 343 to win by four wickets with a massive 19 deliveries to spare.Two days ago, Ricky Ponting tried to laugh off the relevance of Australia’s 100-run defeat in the Twenty20 international, but he will have to come up with a better excuse this time around. This was a bona fide humiliation for Australia. Michael Kasprowicz was belted for 89 runs in eight innocuous overs, and the management’s worries were compounded when Brett Lee left the field with a shoulder problem.All of a sudden, Australia are being forced to face up to a crisis situation. In years gone by, they have had merely to step off the plane and their opponents would prostrate themselves at their feet. Not any more. Where once Somerset might have been tempted to rest several key players to save them for the Championship, today they fronted up in the manner that any self-respecting state side would do if England came to call.Smith and Jayasuriya caught the mood magnificently, and had elderly members recalling the days of Gimblett and Alley as they clobbered 26 fours and four sixes between them while adding 197 in just 23 overs. They each brought up their half-centuries in a mere 42 balls, and then accelerated on from that point, flogging Kasprowicz for 61 runs in his first six overs. Smith was eventually stumped for a superb 108 from 74 balls, and Jayasuriya was scarcely any slower, rattling along to 101 from 79 until he was caught at fine leg off Glenn McGrath.McGrath, as usual, was the pick of the attack, but he was still dispatched at nearly five runs an over, and such was Australia’s disarray that he had to bowl all ten of his overs long before the end of the innings. He added the wicket of John Francis as well to peg Somerset back to 254 for 3, and when Ian Blackwell’s potent innings of 25 was ended by Shane Watson, Australia began to believe they could haul the match out of the fire.But they had reckoned without the nerveless 20-year-old, James Hildreth, who climbed into Kasprowicz’s second spell and turned a taxing run-chase into a cakewalk. The wicketkeeper, Carl Gazzard, chipped in with 21 from 12 balls and Australia were a beaten outfit well before the end.The day had started so well for Australia. After Ponting had won the toss on a belter of a pitch, Matthew Hayden laid into a Somerset attack lacking the services of the injured Andrew Caddick, and did his utmost to erase the memory of that 79 all out at The Rose Bowl. Of the top six, only Simon Katich – opening in place of the rested Adam Gilchrist – failed to make an impact as he fell for 12, and while Hayden was crashing along to 76 from 53 balls, the sky seemed the limit of Australia’s ambitions.Both Ponting and Hayden chose to retire to give their team-mates a chance, but 342 still seemed a formidable total. In the event, but it proved to be some 25 runs too few. Australia’s opening encounter of the NatWest Series takes place at Cardiff on Saturday, where Bangladesh can expect to feel the full backlash.

Close England XI 152 for 2 (Vaughan 66, Hussain 76*) lead University of West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI 119 (Haynes 45, Harmison 4-17, Jones 3-40) by 33 runs
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Simon Jones: back in the limelight© Getty Images

England’s bowlers enjoyed a comfortable warm-up on the opening day of their match at the Mona Oval in Kingston. Playing their likely team for next week’s first Test at Sabina Park, England ended proceedings in total control against the inexperienced Vice-Chancellor’s XI. Steve Harmison impressed with 4 for 17, and Simon Jones weighed in with three wickets on his return in a meagre total of 119. Michael Vaughan and Nasser Hussain then piled on 149, and England ended the day 33 in frontAfter much debate, the game was given first-class status after all, withboth sides allowed to field only 11 men. The big bonus for England was that Jones came through 10.2 overs unscathed, and with some wickets, but the bad news was that Graham Thorpe missed the start of play with a back strain. As a result of that, and Mark Butcher’s twisted ankle, Andrew Strauss will fly out this Sunday as cover for the first Test only.A preview of the match in today’s trumpeted that this “should be a real tester” for England, as the Vice-Chancellor’s outfitincluded “some of the region’s most-talented young cricketers”. It didn’tturn out that way, by any stretch of the imagination.Jason Haynes, the home captain, who is also in charge of West Indies B, did make the bowlers work early on, but that was about it. He batted throughout the morning session, smacking Matthew Hoggard for six over long-on, and later driving and cutting Jones to the boundary from successive balls. That was in Jones’s eagerly awaited – and expensive – first over back in full England colours, but he got his revenge soon after lunch, when Haynes shuffled too far across his stumps and lost his leg peg.That wicket sparked off a major collapse in the Vice-Chancellor’s ranksafter they had made a solid start to reach 72 for 2 at lunch. After Haynes departed for 45, the Kenyan captain Steve Tikolo, who scored a stylish 23, was trapped in front by Harmison (90 for 4), then David Bernard was rather unfortunate to be caught by Chris Read after the ball rebounded off Paul Collingwood at short leg (93 for 5). It was a lucky break for Ashley Giles, the bowler, but a deserved one after his tireless efforts wheeling away into the strong wind – his first ten overs cost only 16.Next to go was Tonito Willett, whose father played for West Indies in the 1970s. He slogged Giles to Hussain at midwicket for 2 (94 for 6), and in the following over Harmison clean-bowled Ryan Nurse to leave the Vice-Chancellor’s team blowing away with the strong Kingston breeze at 94 for 7. Things then got even worse for them soon after, when Jason Bennett was caught by Marcus Trescothick at first slip off Harmison (95 for 8).Ryan Cunningham and Darren Sammy stopped the rot with a gritty stand of 24, which was broken by Jones, back for a second spell. He got one to keep low and shoot under Cunningham’s bat. Jermaine Lawson was cleaned up first ball, leaving Jones on a hat-trick in the second innings.However, Lawson made an immediate impact in England’s reply after tea, bowling Trescothick with the first ball of the innings with a full delivery. Buoyed on by the small crowd, Lawson cranked up the pace, but Vaughan and Hussain were equal to it. Hussain, in particular, was in aggressive form, cutting and pulling anything off line. Vaughan, dropped at first slip off Nurse when he had made 44, was also in fine fettle until he was controversially given out caught at first slip off the left-arm spin of Cunningham shortly before the belated close – he felt the ball had only taken his pad.”Hopefully we’ve given the public a snapshot of what we can do,” Harmison said afterwards. “All the hype about Simon was understandable, considering he’s probably our fastest bowler through the air. Once he settled down, he did really well. It’s exciting to be part of this pace attack. Even though we’re competing for places, Simon and I are the best of mates. Hats off to him for the way he’s come back from that injury.”

Sir Richard Hadlee would be well within his rights to claim that there has never been a dull moment since he took on the job of chairman of New Zealand’s selection panel.Injury has been his, and his fellow selectors, Ross Dykes, Brian McKechnie, David Trist initially, and Denis Aberhart latterly, constant companion. Not injury of their own, but to their players.It seemed that things couldn’t get much worse than New Zealand’s African excursion of 2000/01 when the shuttling of players across the Indian Ocean did wonders for the airline profits of those concerned.But today, as he received news that fast bowler Shane Bond hadn’t recovered from his ear infection and needed to be covered in case he was unable to play tomorrow, he said that the injury concerns of the moment are the worst of his time in the position.”There is just no continuity in selection,” he said.The problems were not insurmountable but they were a frustration as the selectors tried to settle on their preferred combinations for the World Cup.

Division 1 (Time games)Andover 152 (Simpson 32, Langdown 30, Staddon 29, Dibden 5-51, Goldstraw 3-31)
BAT Sports 153-1 (Shirazi 84, Carson 46)
BAT Sports won by 9 wicketsBournemouth 247-8 (Swarbrick 63, Wilkinson 41, Miller 39, Cassell 32)
Burridge 161-9 (Dixon 32, Jackson 28, Waite 4-48, Kidner 3-24)
Match drawnBashley (Rydal) 245-6 (Thurgood 76, Neal 57, Loader 30)
Calmore Sports 246-4 (Hibberd 82, Goode 79, Pegler 39)
Calmore Sports won by 6 wicketsSouth Wilts 233-9 (Rowe 62, Lamb 40, Caines 34, Glasson 32, Wade 28, Loat 5-67, Hindley 4-73)
Havant 195-7 (Loat 50, Greenfield 44, Hindley 42, Tomlinson 4-38)
Match drawnLiphook & Ripsley 289-5 (Jansen 80, Riley 69, Smyth 65, Ford 3-128)
Hungerford 158 (Laney 57, Jansen 3-32)
Liphook & Ripsley won by 133 runsDivision 2 (50 overs)Old Tauntonians 166 (Ord 36, K Trodd 26, Docis 5-23)
Cove 169-2 (Randall 75, Benham 56)
Cove won by 8 wicketsHambledon 174 (Field 45, le Clerq 39, Felgate 4-53)
Trojans 175-4 (Mohammed 60, Subnaik 46)
Trojans won by 6 wicketsOld Basing 106 (Thorne 25, Maru 5-12, Hayward 3-18)
Portsmouth 101-0 (Cook 59, Pike 37)
Portsmouth won by 10 wicketsLymington 279-4 (Peacock 68, Trestrail 65, Craft 61, Young 36)
Sparsholt 176-9 (Nichols 29, Peacock 4-51)
Lymington won by 103 runsUnited Services 183-9 (Hounsome 46, Geoghegan 35, McKeever 32, St Green 3-30, Stone 3-52)
Easton & Martyr Worthy 185-9 (Sh Green 105, Brooks 6-40)
Easton & Martyr Worthy won by 1 wicketDivision 3 (50 overs)Alton 268-8 (Paddy Heffernan 79, Morgan 56, Balllinger 35, Mark Heffernan 30)
Havant II 159 (Mist 47, Owen 38, Ballinger 3-17, Rotherham 3-41)
Alton won by 109 runsBashley (Rydal) II 265-6 (Hall 82, Britton 52, Dean 35, Slater 5-62)
Waterlooville 184 (Shephard 76, Spinks 32, Marsh 4-50)
Bashley (Rydal) won by 81 runsUnited Services II 90 (Collins 6-30, Edwards 3-27)
Gosport Borough 93-5 (Rees 36)
Gosport Borough won by 5 wicketsHursley Park 298-3 (Harris 124, Marks 59, Halder 49)
Hook & Newnham Basics 301-3 (Kaminski 147, Lovelock 105)
Hook & Newnham Basics won by 7 wicketsPaultons 329-8 (Richman 103, Park 51, James 42)
Lymington II 177 (Stephenson 35, Tapper 29, Lamb 5-30, Wilde 3-56)
Paultons won by 152 runsRowledge 227-5 (R Yates 74, Booton 40, Mitchell 36, Wheeler 3-53)
New Milton 183-9 (Wheeler 94, C Yates 5-53)
Rowledge won by 44 runsFlamingos 201-6 (Merkel 84, J Greer 37, Manthorpe 26, Limb 4-24)
Portsmouth II 202-8 (Mitchell 94, Rogers 42, McMurray 5-35)
Portsmouth won by 2 wicketsSt Cross Symondians 229-9 (Parker 41, Slape 35, Perry-Lewis 34, J Adams 26, Stanley 3-37)
Purbrook 227-8 (McCoy 65, Stanley 36, Lipscombe 3-52)
St Cross Symondians won by 2 runsLeckford 173 (Howard 61, M Taylor 3-30, S Marks 3-42)
Winchester KS 177-3 (P Marks 54, Parsons 43, Wheeler 25)
Winchester KS won by 7 wickets

Barcelona have reportedly offered Leeds United the chance to sign striker Martin Braithwaite in a deal that would take Raphinha to the Nou Camp.

The Lowdown: Braithwaite profiled

Braithwaite, formerly of Middlesbrough, where Tony Pulis described him as ‘exceptional’, has been with Barcelona since 2020.

The Denmark international joined from Leganes and reportedly has a frankly ridiculous £251m release clause in his contract.

The 30-year-old has scored ten times in 58 appearances for the Catalan giants but has missed the majority of the current campaign with a knee injury.

The Latest: Talks held

Mundo Deportivo shared an update regarding Raphinha and Barcelona on Saturday morning.

They revealed that conversations have been held between the two clubs, where Barcelona have offered Braithwaite in a deal for the Leeds winger as they look to bring down the cost. Defenders Oscar Mingueza, Sergino Dest and Clement Lenglet were also name-checked in a potential transfer.

The Verdict: Avoid?

Although Leeds could do with adding to their attacking ranks following Patrick Bamford’s injury issues this season, Braithwaite doesn’t appear to be the answer.

He has also had his injury issues of his own this season and is on a whopping £98,000-a-week – only Rodrigo earns more at Elland Road.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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The Barcelona man may well be past his prime and he’ll be 31 in the summer, so it could make sense for Victor Orta and Jesse Marsch to go after a younger attacking target, one with more durability and less wage demands.

In other news: Leeds may now lose another star alongside Raphinha and Phillips; he stunned a club employee. 

	Stuart MacGill: “The reason I’m happiest is that it didn’t go completely to plan” © Getty Images

Stuart MacGill’s dream first-class return from injury has ended a dark patch that threatened to close his international career. However, after taking 5 for 49 for New South Wales on the opening day of the Pura Cup match against South Australia he is back at the front of the queue and the country’s spin stocks are suddenly much healthier.During MacGill’s absence Brad Hogg was the leading slow man, but when he retired Bryce McGain and Dan Cullen were the main options if MacGill did not recover from the wrist surgery he had late last year. The operation was required after MacGill felt numbness in his bowling arm and he performed poorly in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart. There was doubt about whether he could regain fitness – he was also struggling with a knee injury – but he has overcome the initial hurdle.MacGill started with a wicket first ball and was satisfied with his return during 17.4 overs. “The reason I’m happiest is that it didn’t go completely to plan,” he said in the Australian. “For a long period I wasn’t exactly as I wanted to be playing. Probably at the end when I was going for the most runs was when I thought I could put the most work on the ball.”On an SCG surface sympathetic to the spinners – Cullen picked up 3 for 9 on day one – MacGill captured Daniel Harris with his opening delivery. “There was definitely luck, there was no question of luck being with me,” he said. “You know, first ball, half-tracker, straight to point, that’s probably as lucky as you are going to get. Mind you, I’ve been lucky a number of times in my career if that’s the criteria, but maybe it was straight back into form first ball, I don’t know.”MacGill is 37 but Andrew Hilditch, the national chairman of selectors, is not bothered by age and wants a high-class spinner with the Test squad. “The reality is that we envisage, as we did at the start of the season, that we were really looking to get from Stuart, or perhaps Hoggy, a couple of years of cricket where we get a period of time for the younger spinners around the country to develop and take that next step,” Hilditch told the paper. “Obviously with Stuart’s injuries and now Brad Hogg’s retirement, that plan’s pretty much on hold at the moment.”We’re obviously interested in how Stuart goes in his comeback. I haven’t seen him for a little while. I’m told he’s looking extremely fit and has made a lot of progress over the last couple of months so it will be interesting to see how he goes.” He has started well and will have another opportunity as New South Wales chase hosting rights for the final.

Tamim Iqbal ambushed India during their World Cup encounter © AFP

Tamim Iqbal v Zaheer Khan
Thirty-four runs off 25 balls, and a six that rang around the World Cup. Five more boundaries to boot and there’s every reason a fast bowler with a typically elephantine memory would be looking for revenge. Tamim reacted to being hit by Zaheer by stepping out the next ball and smashing him for a huge six over wide long-on. A similar dance first ball tomorrow won’t be a bad start at all.Virender Sehwag v Mashrafe Mortaza
Sehwag was bowled for two by Mortaza at the World Cup. The two times out of six that Sehwag failed to get into double figures, India ended up losing to Bangladesh. And both those times he was clean bowled by Mortaza. That could be inspiration enough for Mortaza to brave his back pain and have another go at Sehwag.Habibul Bashar v Rahul Dravid
Their tales couldn’t be any more different. Bashar struggled with the bat and the results initially but he’s started winning more frequently in recent times. Dravid the captain had a superb start, steamrolling Sri Lanka at home, but had a poor World Cup. During their loss to Bangladesh at the World Cup, Dravid’s decision to bat first came under scrutiny and, on a pitch that took turn, Bashar employed his trio of left-arm spinners extremely effectively. Both captains are under pressure at the start of this series. It could be a matter of who handles it better.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has tried his best but the demands have become such a burden they have undermined his confidence and severely affected his batting © Getty Images

Bennett King has a familiar story to tell when he reports on his latest assignment to Ken Gordon, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Joey Carew, convenor of selectors, and Clive Lloyd, recently-appointed head of the cricket committee, in Antigua today, less than 24 hours after his return.The tour of New Zealand that ended with the rain-ruined third Test in Napier on Wednesday was the head coach’s fourth overseas, following two to Australia and one to Sri Lanka last year. Like the others, it ended in defeat and disappointment.The main reasons would have been obvious to Gordon and his colleagues from what they saw through the television coverage and read from comments on tour by King himself, captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul and some of the other players, not least the most experienced, Brian Lara.The failure of the middle-order batting, notably the key men, Chanderpaul and Lara, inappropriate shot selection and missed catches at critical moments led to the narrow defeat in the first Test and contributed to the comprehensive loss in the second. The injuries that reduced Dwayne Bravo’s allround capacity to batting and fielding alone and confined Jerome Taylor to nine overs in his only Test were also significant setbacks.Above all, as Lara observed at the end, the continuing lack of mental toughness undermined the effort against efficient, but hardly overwhelming, opponents in both Tests and one-day internationals. The outcome in New Zealand also ensures that the issue of leadership is high on the agenda, not only at today’s meeting but at selectorial and board level in the coming weeks.Decisions have to be taken on the captaincy and, following the review by the committee headed by Jackie Hendriks, the coaching. Chanderpaul is not the first captain to endure such a prolonged period of failure but none has been so unsuited to the role or so uncomfortable in it.Until thrust into the position by the contentious circumstances of last year, his cricket was focused exclusively on batting, on accumulating runs, however, they came, on substance rather than style. His record attests to his success.Quiet to the point of introversion, he did not have to concern himself with determining tactics or mastering the skills necessary to communicate with his players and the media. It was too much to expect him to suddenly grasp such complexities, especially at such a turbulent time in West Indies cricket.

Dwayne Bravo could not bowl in New Zealand because of a side strain © Getty Images

He has tried his best, as he always does, but the demands have become such a burden they have undermined his confidence and severely affected his batting, his one, abiding passion. Since the Sri Lanka series last July, when the leading players deserted him, his stance has become more awkwardly front-on as he has gone 14 Test innings without a half-century.They are statistics that undermine his authority and enough for him to be relieved of the weight and worry of leadership so that he can get back to doing what he does best, score runs. The sooner the decision is made to elevate vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to the position, the better to end negative speculation.The seven successive ODIs against a weakened Zimbabwe are next on the West Indies’ schedule, an ideal introduction for a new, younger skipper. Throughout New Zealand, King and his all-Australian staff remained under the cloud of the Hendriks committee’s report and the inevitable rumours that followed the release of its findings.The head coach’s presentation today will be inevitably made against this background of uncertainty, even given the committee’s conclusion that “there was not sufficient evidence to work with in determining whether the investment in the coaching staff had paid dividends” and its subsequent recommendation that they be given “more opportunity before a further evaluation is made”.In his debriefing, King will find difficulty in explaining how, in two of the ODIs and, more frustratingly, in the first Test, probable victory slipped rapidly from the grasp of a team consumed by the powerful insecurity of years of failure.In the second ODI, New Zealand were 49 for the loss of the top five yet they breezed past the 201 needed to win with three wickets and eight overs to spare. In the third, the West Indies were 127 for two after 20 overs going after 277. Two wickets in the 21st over transformed that position into eventual defeat by 21 runs.The mental meltdown was most pronounced and momentous in the first Test. At 150 for seven in their second innings, New Zealand were 168 ahead and down to the keeper and the bowlers. They rallied to add 122 after Daniel Vettori was dropped at four.It meant the West Indies were left 291 to win but an opening partnership of 148 between Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga set the foundations for a result that would have been an enormous boost to the team’s confidence. It came to nothing as Nos.3 to 7 contributed 36 between them. The margin of defeat was 27.

Fidel Edwards is developing into a genuine strike bowler © Getty Images

Yet what King will have to report today is not all gloom and doom. There was the continuing development and strengthening of Fidel Edwards as a genuine strike bowler.Against widespread scepticism that the task of taking 20 wickets in a match is beyond the limited bowling attack, it did so in the first Test, as it had done in the two at home against Pakistan last season, and would have been more effective with better support in the field.At last, Gayle and Ganga provided more solid starts than other pairs had managed for some time (47, 148, 43, 54 and 37 against 20, 11, 12, 4, 16 and 2 in the previous series in Australia). And, not to be underestimated, the coach can rightly point out that there were definite advances in moulding a team ethic among the players, many of whom were on opposite sides in the bitter standoff between the WICB and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) only a few months earlier.There was an unmistakeable camaraderie off the field, especially among the many younger members, that is an encouraging sign for the future. The problem, of course, is that it hasn’t reflected in the results.