BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP):

KEY WEST Indies players Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels were missing from World Cup team training yesterday after returning to their homes in Jamaica for a rest, team officials said.

They said opening batsman Gayle and batsman Marlon Samuels had flown directly from Grenada after Tuesday's loss to Sri Lanka.

Other players took a much-criticised break back in their home countries earlier in the tournament in between matches, but Gayle and Samuels did not return home at that stage.

Team spokesman Imran Khan rejected a suggestion that Samuels had walked out on the team because he was angry with performances at the World Cup. The West Indies have only won one of five Super Eight matches and have virtually no chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.

They still have to play Bangladesh in Barbados on Thursday and England on Saturday.

The rest of the West Indies squad practised in a desultory fashion at the Three Ws ground yesterday morning before it was cut short by rain. The practice did not include nets.

Captain Brian Lara and training staff struggled to get the players interested in exercising and they settled for a game of soccer. The lack of intensity compared to other World Cup teams - including Ireland and Bangladesh - was clear.

Coaches calling players to new exercises were generally ignored. Players strolled around the field, laughing and joking among themselves.

Lara, who has announced he is retiring from one-day internationals after the team's final two World Cup games, appeared to cajole young players to join in with more vigour.

Former West Indies paceman Colin Croft attacked the team's training regime while it was playing in Guyana describing it as lethargic, and he pointed the finger at team management for permitting a poor attitude to prevail.

Bennett King, the West Indies' Australian coach since 2004, denied reports that there was disunity among the players.

"Everyone's united. There's no problem," he said.

"The morale this morning has been quite good. The will to win is there, but we've got to prepare properly. We still want to win the last games. It's important for us to finish on a high note."

King said it was important for the Caribbean public, which has in general expressed anger at shoddy and half-hearted performances, to support the team.

"We have to rally around the boys and support them," he said. "Our performances will stay the same if we don't change some things."

He said he was still awaiting an official response to proposals he had made on establishing a West Indies cricket academy and on changes to domestic competition.

He pointed out that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB)was US$15 million in debt.