Clash in tour dates

The West Indies will have to put two teams in the field at the same time in different countries next June because of a clash in dates between the home Tests against New Zealand and the A team's tour of England.

New Zealand are scheduled to be in the Caribbean from June 4 to July 7 for two Tests and three One-Day Internationals.

The West Indies A team's first tour of England is set for June 14 to July 29 with an itinerary of five first-class matches against county opposition and seven One-Day matches, including one each against Sri Lanka and India who are on Test tours at the same time.

It will present a bit of a problem but it's not insurmountable, chairman of selectors Mike Findlay said yesterday.

There may be some players on the borderline of selection to the Test team who we'd want to go to England for the experience but who might be needed during the course of the New Zealand series, he explained.

Obviously, our priority will be the Tests and One-Day Internationals but the A tour is also very important, especially at this time of our development, and we'll see how we can best dovetail the two, he added.

He said England was only eight hours away by non-stop flight to the Caribbean so if an A team player was required for the home series for some reason, he could be quickly ready.

The West Indies Test and A teams have countries.

The A team was in Sri Lanka in late 1996 while the Test team was in Australia, in South Africa in 1997-98 with the seniors in Pakistan and in Bangladesh and India in November and December 1999 while the West Indies were struggling in the Test series in South Africa.

When leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine and left-handed batsman Jimmy Adams had to go home early from the senior tour of South Africa in 1998-99, Rawl Lewis and Floyd Reifer were sent as replacements from the A team in India.

Findlay said the selectors viewed the A team as a platform for West Indies selection.

It's a virtual West Indies' second team and gives up-andcoming players exposure to a certain level of international cricket, he observed. On a tour, such as that to England, there's the experience of playing in different conditions that is also factored in.

The practice on past tours has been that a seasoned player with Test experience is made captain.

Present Test team coach Roger Harper led the team to Sri Lanka in1996, Jimmy Adams to South Africa a year later and Ian Bishop to Bangladesh and India in 1998.

Since then, India, in 1999, and South Africa, in 2000, have made A team tours of the Caribbean.

June 17: v British Universities at Oxford.

June 19: v Sri Lanka at Hove.

June 21: v Sussex at Hove/or Essex at Chelmsford/or Surrey at the Oval.

June 23: v Kent at Canterbury/or Hampshire at Southampton/or Essex at Chelmsford.

June 26-29: v Derbyshire at Derby.

July 3-6: v Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

July 7: v Yorkshire at Headingley.

July 10-13: v Lancashire at Old Trafford.

July 16: v India (venue to be announced).

July 20-22: v Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

July 24-27: v Somerset at Taunton.

July 29: v Gloucester at Cheltenham.