Tour of Australia 2005-06          Captain: Shiv Chanderpaul

55th official Test tour

Thirteenth Test-playing tour by West Indies to Australia

    (October - December 2005)

Negotiations between the West Indies Players' Association and the West Indies Cricket Board  went on but they resolved their differences at the last moment

The West Indies Board complained to the ICC about the standard of umpiring

Bennett King, the West Indies’ coach, thought the major problem faced by his squad was inexperience rather than inability saying, "Eleven of the players are 25 and under. There's only two that are over 30 and they're our most experienced players.”

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

Sri Lanka 2005

Next tour

New Zealand 2005-06

Next Australian tour

2009-10

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen: Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Devon Smith

Middle-order batsmen Brian Lara, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Smith, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan,

All-rounder:  Dwayne Bravo,

Wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin,

Spin bowlers none

Fast bowlersTino Best, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Jermaine Lawson, Daren Powell

Regional representation

B - Barbados (4)

G  - Guyana (2)

Ja  - Jamaica (5)

L - Leeward Islands (0)

T - Trinidad & Tobago (3)

W  - Windward Islands (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(3 November 2005) : 25 yrs  11 months

Test Appearances made before the tour

Lara 118,  Chanderpaul 88,  Sarwan 55,  Gayle 52,  W Hinds 44,  Samuels 19,  Edwards 17,  Collymore 16,  DS Smith 13,  Lawson 12,  Powell 12,  Bravo 7,  D R Smith 7,  Ramdin 2,  Best 0.

Team Officials

Former NSW rugby union trainer Bryce Cavanagh was recruited during the 2005 home series against South Africa to get the team fit ahead of the series in Australia.

Selectors

Selection

24 players were selected to take part in a training camp prior to the tour. Lawson and Jerome Taylor were subsequently added to the group. Gayle and Lara did not attend as they were playing for the ICC in Australia.  The practices, beginning on 25 September, were held at the Three Ws Oval on Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies. There was a four-day game between 27-30 September.

Unavailable: none

Tour Party Announced :  4 October 2005.

Lawson was included despite some doubts about his bowling action.

Not selected : Out of the 26 at the camp Daren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Dave Mohammed, Sylvester Joseph, Ryan Hinds, Runako Morton, Jerome Taylor, Narsingh Deonarine, Carlton Baugh Jr, Omari Banks, Pedro Collins, Ian Bradshaw, Deighton Butler were not selected.

Time between selection and departure from West Indies

  13 days

(4 October - 17 October)

Travel

Bridgetown/Kingston Q  London

LondonQ  Brisbane

The team, travelling in two groups, left the Caribbean on Monday 17 October. The larger group of players and officials, based in the Eastern Caribbean, assembled in Barbados then departed for London in the afternoon.  Devon Smith missed the flight because of leaving Grenada late and he had to fly yesterday. 

The Jamaica contingent left Kingston on Monday evening. Wavell Hinds was allowed to remain in Jamaica for personal family reasons and Chris Gayle had only just returned to Jamaica after appearing in the ICC Super Series. They travelled later to Australia. 

The team arrived in Brisbane on Thursday 20 October 2005.

Brian Lara met the squad in Australia, having remained there after the ICC Series.

Time spent in Australia

   45 days

(20 October - 4 December)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Wavell Hinds broke a finger which ruled him out of the first two Test matches

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in Australia before First Test:  14 days

(20 October - 3 November)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Chanderpaul,  Collymore,  Edwards,  Lara,  Powell,  Ramdin,  Sarwan,  DS Smith

2  -   Bravo,  Gayle,  Samuels

1  -   W Hinds,  Lawson,  DR Smith.

0  -   Best.

Highlights

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Tour Summary

Return to West Indies

Sydney?    Q  Bridgetown?

 Last match 2 Dec 2005 Left Australia Saturday 4 December and arrived home on 5 December

Time away from West Indies    55 days  

(17 October to 5 December)

Finances