No Warm-up

A Lack of funds and foresight will leave the West Indies underprepared for their forthcoming series in Pakistan, wherever it is staged.

A late start to the Busta Cup tournament on January 25, the day the team is scheduled to leave, means the selectors have to name the squad of 15 and judge form and fitness without any first-class cricket since the end of the series in Sri Lanka on December 21.

The itinerary gives the West Indies only one three-day warmup match against a President's XI, scheduled for January 28-30, prior to the three back-to-back Tests and three One- Day internationals.

It compounds the uncertainty over where the tour will take place following the stated position of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that it be moved to a neutral venue because of uncertainty over the military action across the borders in Afghanistan to the west and India to the east.

The usual week-long pre-tour camp has been planned for Trinidad prior to the team's departure, but a more meaningful alternative would have been two four-day trial matches over the next two weekends after which the squad would be chosen.

In the event, such matches merited first-class status to further ensure their competitiveness. The seven omitted from the original 22 would have been stand-bys, a crucial consideration in light of the several withdrawals from recent tours.

Both WICB president Reverend Wes Hall and chairman of selectors Mike Findlay have acknowledged that this scenario had not been considered and, even if it had been, it would have been too costly at a time when the WICB's finances were stretched.

Although most of those under consideration have been involved in Busta trials for their individual territories, these lack the intensity necessary to properly guide the West Indies selectors or to prepare the players for the challenge of a series against strong opposition.

The Pakistanis have not played Test cricket since last June in England as a result of New Zealand's cancellation of their series there in September in the aftermath of the terrorists attacks in the United States.

They have been engaged in their domestic Quaid-e-Azam Trophy first-class tournament and will have two Tests against lowly Bangladesh in Bangladesh over the next two weeks to sharpen up for the West Indies.