West Indies train in Dubai after BCCI snub

DUBAI: As the Indian team continues to grapple with a cramped schedule at the Asia Cup here, the West Indies — their next opponents — are making the most of the situation with their camp across the street from the Dubai stadium.

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In Dubai since a week, the West Indies team will only travel to India on Sept 26 for two Tests, five ODIs and three T20Is starting from Oct 4. The initial plan was to travel to India at least a fortnight ago but the Indian cricket board was reluctant to provide them facilities to prepare for the tour.

“We tried to get into India but we were told that there weren’t any places available for us. It would have been nice to be in India. There would have been less travel,” West Indies coach Stuart Law told TOI. “The ICC Global Academy said they have cricket going on and thus offered us to come over here. But what you have to take we have got. We are enjoying ourselves,” added the ex-Aussie cricketer.

The BCCI, however, cited the heavy domestic season making it difficult to provide ground facilities for the West Indies team. “We have so many teams this season. To accommodate them at a time when the domestic season has got underway would always be difficult,” a top BCCI official told TOI.

Law, meanwhile, is fighting a battle to revive West Indies’ Test cricket. To keep the players together and getting ready for Test cricket — a format that has lost popularity in the Caribbean — is the more daunting challenge for the former Australia batsman. “The players are just back from CPL. The camp is to get them back into red-ball mode and get used to the heat. It’s very hard to keep the boys together as they live in different islands. We need a window,” Law said.

West Indies cricket has been mired in controversies with their biggest names giving a cold shoulder to Test matches for T20 leagues. For Law, it’s time West Indies cricket moved beyond negotiating with the players. “Those days are gone talking to those players. They play much of their cricket in different parts of the world. Their bodies are already taking a toll. Andre Russell, for example, doesn’t play his cricket at half tilt. To maintain that across format is difficult. We can’t convince players to play a format of the game,” he reckoned before adding, “Chris Gayle is the greatest T20 players the world has known but he also played 100 Test matches. That gave him the ability to understand the game.”

Law now looks to the next generation of West Indian cricketers and mould them into all-format cricketers. “The next generation of West Indian cricketers is good. They are producing a good set of players from the U-19 system. That’s why it’s important to have these camps to keep them in touch with red-ball cricket,” he said.