Windies resume full training after Tomas

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC): With the tough tour of Sri Lanka looming, West Indies resumed training with a full-day workout here on Sunday, just 24 hours after the country was battered by powerful Tropical Storm Tomas.

The squad, currently in camp for the imminent November 10 to December 21 tour, had been expected to launch their training in full on Saturday, but the tropical cyclone that caused widespread damage across the country condemned them to their hotel rooms.

However, with conditions having improved on Sunday, the Windies trained in two batches, with half the squad practising in the indoor nets at the Garfield Sobers Coaching Centre of the 3Ws Oval and the other set going through a fitness routine at Kensington Oval.

Philip Spooner, the team media officer, told CMC Sports that the camp had been "affected but not restricted" by the spell of bad weather and had run from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

"Obviously the team is getting prepared for the tour of Sri Lanka and there is nothing you can do about acts of God," he told CMC Sports on Sunday. "And therefore, the players are fully committed to being fit and prepared for the tour of Sri Lanka when they leave this week and had a full workout today.

"The coach (Ottis Gibson) has expressed his satisfaction with the commitment of the players under the circumstances."

Recovering

With the 3Ws Oval still recovering from the heavy rain dumped by Hurricane Tomas, the players were expected to do only fielding drills yesterday, along with more work in the indoor nets.

Tomas, now a hurricane, barreled through the country with strong winds early Saturday, ripping off house tops, toppling utility poles and huge trees and leaving large portions of the country without electricity and running water.

The 15-man West Indies squad had assembled here earlier last week, following the final of the WICB one-day championship in Jamaica last Sunday. They were taken through fitness testing on Thursday and Friday in order to assess their level of conditioning.

They are expected to leave for Sri Lanka in two groups on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

While on the subcontinent, West Indies will play three Tests, five one-day internationals and a solitary Twenty20 International.