LARALONDON, CMC:
WEST INDIES captain Brian Lara, a conspicuous no-show at Wednesday's press briefing in Barbados because of what a West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) release described as "unfinished personal business" in his homeland Trinidad & Tobago, has joined his charges in London as scheduled.
Yesterday Zorol Barthley, the WICB's Chief Cricket Operations Officer, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that Lara had arrived in London yesterday, as expected.
This means that the full 14-member squad is now assembled in London as the Jamaican quartet of Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels and Xavier Marshall also arrived as scheduled. The Guyanese Ramnaresh Sarwan and Reon King, who were unable to join the team in Barbados on Wednesday because of an air traffic controllers' strike in Georgetown, left Barbados on Thursday evening for London where they linked up with the remainder of the squad.
LATE DEPARTURE
"The team is expected to depart later this evening at 9:15 p.m. London time," Barthley confirmed yesterday morning.
The team is scheduled to arrive tomorrow in Australia for the VB Triangular Limited Overs series, which also involves the hosts and Pakistan.
Lara, who arrived late for the West Indies training camp in Barbados earlier this month, was named as captain for the series in Australia, with Chanderpaul replacing Sarwan as his deputy.
West Indies team manager Tony Howard had pointed out that because of the late announcement of the captain and the team, Lara had been unable to join the team in Barbados.
"He has had some business to attend to and the late notice of the appointment of the captain and so on gave him due cause (not to join the team early)," Howard said.
West Indies play warm-up games on January 5, 8 and 9 before their first match in the VB Series on January 14 against Australia at the MCG.
