Pakistan cricket team captain Shoaib Malik (second left) and West Indies captain Chris Gayle (right) lift the Fortune Cup with Jamal Saeed S. Al Nuaimi (left), general manager of Abu Dhabi Region Etisalat, and Syed Mohammed A. Ali, chief executive officer of Fortune Group, during the unveiling of the trophy at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, yesterday. - AP

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP):

West Indies captain Chris Gayle said his teammates are over the euphoria of winning a million dollars each and are ready for the one-day series against Pakistan.

The first of three matches starts in Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

The Stanford Superstars team, which featured several West Indies players including Gayle as captain, beat England by 10 wickets on November 2 in the Stanford Twenty20 match. Each of the 11 players from the winning team received US$1 million

"It was great fun," Gayle said yesterday at a news conference in Abu Dhabi. "We really enjoyed it. But it is (the) past now and we are over it. The financial reward is good, but we know this is an important international series and all our players are focused to do well against Pakistan."

Gayle also said his team will not be lulled into a sense of complacency by Pakistan's lack of top-flight matches since the Asia Cup in July.

"I can understand how frustrating it must be for Pakistan not to be playing international cricket on a regular basis," he said. "We really don't have any idea how fit their players are."

Cancellations

Australia, South Africa and New Zealand recently cancelled their tours of Pakistan due to security concerns and Pakistan hosted Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The ICC Champions Trophy, due to be held in Pakistan in September this year, was also postponed for security reasons.

Pakistan has also recently fired coach Geoff Lawson and leading batsman Mohammed Yousuf went over to the rebel Indian Cricket League.

"We have lost legendary players in the past, but the team somehow has to find a replacement and carry on," Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said. "We will support the new players. We are all professionals and we are expected to take things like lack of preparation and departure of players in our strides."

The second and third one-day inter-nationals are on Friday and Sunday.