Where are the Indians?

Mystery surrounds the participation of India 'A' in the upcoming Carib Beer Cricket Series which bowls off on Friday.

It is still unclear if the tourists will indeed be in the region for the competition. A check with the West Indies Cricket Board's (WICB) public relations handlers yesterday evening revealed they had been trying to contact the Board for Cricket Control of India (BCCI) for some time without success.

Further checks with the official website of the Indian board and monitoring of The Hindu newspaper revealed nothing, and it is not sure if a team has been selected as yet, or if any systems have been put in place.

India 'A' are due to bowl off against West Indies 'B' at the Windward Cricket Club, St Philip, the second first-class match at that venue. If the Indian reserves fail to make the trip the other teams in the eight-match competition would be awarded a bye.

Last night, a Barbados Cricket Association official said it had received no word on the Indians' arrival and had little details to go by. The official however added that they had gone ahead to make hotel booking and land travel arrangements.

Efforts to contact officials of the WICB yesterday proved futile, but NATIONSPORT understands that WICB president Wes Hall was in recent contact with Indian board president Jagmohan Dalmiya, but the details of their discussions were not available.

This is the third time an 'A' team has been invited to participate in the regional competition. England 'A' was the first to visit in 2000 for the Busta Cricket Series, while Bangladesh 'A' participated last year.