Charl Willoughby's postcard from the West Indies

It's hard to believe that almost a month has passed since we assembled in Johannesburg, and then moved on to Centurian Park for four days of intense practice ahead of our tour to the West Indies.

The guys gelled immediately and, I'm pleased to say, after several weeks of living out of suitcases, morale in the camp couldn't be higher. We've built up a spirit of "all for one and one for all" both on and off the field. We left the shores of South Africa on Thursday. 17th August not knowing exactly how long the flight to the Caribbean would take.

Perhaps that was a good thing. It took us more than 30 hours to reach Barbados with stopovers at New York and Miami. It was like travelling from Noordoewer to Poffadder by donkey cart but somewhat less exciting. We touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport on Friday night, 18th August and headed straight for the hotel and bed. Our first practice on foreign soil was scheduled for 2pm (8pm SA time) on Saturday. It was very humid and hot, but besides a lot of dripping wet t-shirts (from sweat), all went well. Later, we said good-bye to Skeg (Nic Pothas) who had been called up to join the national team in Singapore. We were all very, very pleased for him.

Because we had not yet received our meal allowances from the West Indies Cricket Board, a couple of credit cards suffered severe punishment that Saturday evening. But hey, we were determined to experience as much of Bajan culture and cuisine as we could. The beer Number One here is Banks Beer is not bad either. We trained hard for the next couple of days. Everyone was fighting for a place in the side for the opening match of the tour, a first-class four-dayer against Barbados.

I made the starting line-up and, well aware of the reputation of Caribbean pitches for pace and lift, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the cherry. I had to wait a bit, though we batted first. I guess I was hoping for more than the two wickets I picked up in each innings. Although the game ended in a draw, team members, generally, were pretty satisfied with their showing. If you thought Cape Town weather can sometimes be unpredictable, I've got news for you.

In Barbados the weather changes its mind, more times than a child in a toyshop. Here, the rain comes quickly you'll see a blue sky one minute; then some clouds; then the heavens will open up. Just when you begin thinking of packing up for the day, the sky turns blue again in minutes and you'll find yourself back on the field (there's no waiting for the outfield to dry). There were some good performances from Justin Ontong (56), Dale Benkenstein (57 and 52), Ashwell Prince (69) and Mark Bruyns (58). Our attack was steady, with most of us picking up four wickets each in the match. The bowlers were given the Saturday off, but there was an optional practice for batsmen.

By this time, our meal allowances had come through and most of the team went out to a nightclub called Harbour Lights. Some of the guys had rather late nights; others not that late. This was only our second late-night experience of the tour, but earlier in the week, we had the privilege of meeting Sir Garfield Sobers and Sir Everton Weekes at a dinner party. All the boys listened eagerly to their speeches.

After our four-day match, we played a one-day game against Barbados at Kensington Oval, the test venue. We won the toss and put them in to bat on a damp wicket. It would have been a very short game had it not been for some heavy rain. We bowled them out for 89 and knocked off the required total for the loss of three wickets. We had a "fines meeting" after the limited overs game.

With the team convinced that they needed someone with integrity and a long history of objectivity to handle proceedings, I was elected "fines chairman", with Victor Mpitsang my "chief-justice". Since no one else has said this, I shall say it myself: We handled the meeting expertly, giving a wonderful demonstration of objectivity by slapping Western Province new boy Graeme Smith with the most fines (and didn't he struggle to manage them all in one go). Graeme was convinced that he had made no blunders. But Victor and I proved to be masters in the fine art of prosecuting. We collected enough dirt on the youngest member of our team to make all the charges stick.

Listen, that's all for now and seeing that you can't be here, I promise to stay in touch. Until next time Cheers! Pup Willoughby