West Indies Squad for the Sri Lankan tour announced

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming tour to Sri Lanka, the West Indies selectors have named a sixteen-man squad. The WICB President, Rev. Wes Hall and CEO, Gregory Shillingford, will meet with their Sri Lankan counterparts during the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 16 - 19 October. The WICB directors deferred on making a final decision on both the Sri Lanka and Pakistan tours until after the ICC meeting. The parties would then carefully review safety and security issues surrounding the tours to these countries in light of developments following the recent terrorists attacks on the United States and the subsequent retaliatory actions.

During the same meeting of the WICB directors, approval was given to the selectors' recommendation of Carl Hooper as captain for the upcoming tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan, which are scheduled to take place from 1 November - 21 December, 2001 and 29 January - 4 March, 2002 respectively. These players along with reserve, Courtney Browne will assemble in Jamaica for a training camp in preparation for the tour to Sir Lanka. The selectors have invited Browne to the camp as a precautionary measure in the event that wicket-keeper/batsman Ridley Jacobs is unable to go on tour because of the injury to his finger. The doctor has advised that Jacobs participate in batting drills only during the camp, following which he will be assessed to determine his fitness for the tour.

Team: Carl Hooper (Captain), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Leon Garrick, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Reon King, Colin Stuart, Pedro Collins, Dinanath Ramnarine and Neil McGarrell. The camp will run from October 16 to 23 when the players will return to their respective territories. The team will re-assemble for departure for Sri Lanka on October 30.