BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC:
WEST INDIES manager Ricky Skerritt painted positive images of a West Indies team ready for battle as the Caribbean side left on Tuesday evening for South Africa in search of their first World Cup title in 24 years.
Skerritt said at a farewell function at the Grantley Adams International Airport shortly before their departure, that the squad has prepared well for the tournament and is fully committed to doing well.
"It is cricket that we are playing and we expect the unexpected, but we expect that you are going to see a wonderful performance in the great traditions of the legacy of West Indies cricket," Skerritt said.
The Kittitian, whose three-year contract as team manager ends after the World Cup assignment, praised the team for its growth in recent seasons during the trying process of rebuilding.
"One of the features of this team which has impressed me more and more is our ability to learn, our ability to change and our ability to adapt, we are getting through problems much more quickly much more smoothly and with a sense of future," Skerritt added.
He suggested that there are more hurdles to overcome, but he confidently backed the side to do well.
"There are still many problems and they still come at us, but we are now confident that there is no problem too big, no burden too heavy and there is no opposition too strong, as we go forward to the World Cup.
"I want you to know that this group of young men are confident, they have worked very hard, they are well prepared," Skerritt said.
The West Indies play hosts to South Africa in an anticipated tough opener on February 9 and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Reverend Wes Hall, already on record as predicting a World Cup win for the West Indies, urged the players to play to their potential.
"I hope you do the right things, I hope that we will bowl tight, I hope that we'll be competent in all aspects of the game," Rev. Hall said.
"If we play to the best of our ability, I am very sure that we will win the World Cup. If by chance you don't win, make sure that you are competitive, make sure that you will still bring glory," Rev. Hall added.
John Kuriyan, managing director of the team sponsor Caribbean Ispat, a member of the steel producers LNM Group, also expressed positive thoughts to the departing side, praising the team's combination of youth and experience.
"I talked to some of the team members today, the captain, and I am really confident. I see the confidence in the team and we expect great things from all of you," Kuriyan told the squad.
The West Indies, winners of the first two World Cup tournaments in 1975 and 1979, will play in Pool B alongside South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kenya and Canada.
They will play two warm-up matches against provincial opposition before the tournament opener against the South Africans.
Squad: Carl Hooper (captain), Ridley Jacobs (vice captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Mervyn Dillon, Vasbert Drakes,
Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hinds, Brian Lara, Jermaine Lawson, Nixon McLean, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan.
