Tour of India 2002-03                 Captain:  Carl Hooper

Fifty-first official Test tour

 (first part of the  tour to India

   & Bangladesh 2002-03)

Ninth Test-playing tour of India by West Indies.

 (September -

         November 2002)

After being eliminated from the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka, the West Indies team remained there to prepare for the first leg of a Test tour of India & Bangladesh. Manager Ricky Skerritt was the victim of scurrilous, untrue stories in the Sri Lankan press which he claimed were deliberately planted to sully the good name of himself and the West Indies team.

West Indies were hammered in the first two Test matches against India, but rejuvenated in the Third Test at Kolkata when they picked four pace bowlers and dismissed India relatively cheaply before building up a strong lead. But the pitch proved too easy for the Indian batsmen who ensured the draw.

The tour management registered a strong protest at the decision by ICC match referee Mike Procter to award India victory in the third one-day International in Rajkot when crowd trouble brought the game to an end. It was abandoned after West Indian fielders were hit by plastic water bottles.

West Indies won the ODI series by taking the decisive seventh match through brilliant play from the young stars recalled to the team, Marlon Samuels and Jermaine Lawson.

The tour management wanted to send Marlon Samuels home for breaking a night-time curfew and going out to a night club.Samuels was hauled before the the tour disciplinary committee - selector Viv Richards, captain Carl Hooper and coach Roger Harper - and Merv Dillon was also told to pack his bags for breaking curfew on several occasions but Rev Wesley Hall, President of the West Indies Board, intervened and prevented it because their expulsion would not be within legal disciplinary procedures.

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

To Sharjah to play Pakistan 2001-02

Next tour

Bangladesh 2002-03

 (officially part of same tour)

Next tour of India

2011-12

Members of the Test tour party (16)

Opening batsmen:  Chris Gayle,  Wavell Hinds

Middle-order batsmen  Shiv Chanderpaul, Carl Hooper, Daren Ganga, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels

Wicket-keepers  Ridley Jacobs,

Spin bowlers  Gareth Breese, Mahendra Nagamootoo,Ryan Hinds

Fast bowlers  Pedro Collins, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Jermaine Lawson, Daren Powell.

Regional representation:   

B - Barbados (2)

G - Guyana (4)

Ja - Jamaica  (6)

L - Leeward Islands (1)

T - Trinidad & Tobago (2)

W - Windward Islands (0)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(9 October 2002) :

      26 yrs  2 months

ODI (CT) Champions Trophy

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hooper 99,  Chanderpaul 58,  Jacobs 42,  Dillon 27,  W W Hinds 24,  Sarwan 24,  Gayle 23,  Ganga 15,  Collins 13,  Cuffy 13,  Samuels 12,  Nagamootoo 4,  R O Hinds 2,  Powell 1,  Breese 0,  Lawson 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Viv Richards (chairman),  Michael 'Joey' Carew,  Gordon Greenidge.

Selection

Champions Trophy ODI team announced:   12 August 2002

Carl Hooper (captain), Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Cameron Cuffy, Mervyn Dillon, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Wavell Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara, Runako Morton, Mahendra Nagamootoo, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Withdrawn: Cameron Cuffy.

Cuffy's flight was already booked but Vasbert Drakes was selected to replace him after concerns developed about his fitness because the 31-year-old Cuffy underwent knee surgery in July, but had not yet had a rehabilitation programme . Unfortunately, the change of player was not conveyed to Cuffy.

In prior years, selection to West Indies touring teams depended on players being available for all matches in the regional first-class and limited-overs competitions, but the WICB voted to relax the rule, which required players to be available only for the matches preceding selection.

Tour Party Announced :  9 September 2002.

Jermaine Lawson and Marlon Samuels were recalled after injuries.

Not selected : Runako Morton (he later asked to return home early from the I C C Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka to attend his grandmother's funeral, which was soon discovered to be untrue).

Withdrawal :  Brian Lara withdrew through illness on 18 September (being hospitalised with suspected hepatitis during the Champions Trophy).  Lara was replaced by Daren Ganga on 23 September.

ODI squad (v India) announced:  25 October 2002. 

On 1 November the selectors trimmed the squad to fifteen for the ODIs (as in the World Cup).  Opening batsman Ganga, who did not play in any of the three Tests, would therefore get the axe and return home along with Gareth Breese, Daren Powell, and Jermaine Lawson.

Time between selection and departure from West Indies    x days

(9 September to depart for WI)

Travel

Barbados Q  London Q   Colombo

ColomboQ  Bangalore 

The West Indies’ Champions Trophy team left Barbados for Sri Lanka on Tuesday 3 September 2002. Pedro Collins left from Jamaica where he remained to film a commercial.

The team was in Colombo from 1 October after their Champions Trophy elimination, to complete a training camp ahead of their trip to India. Vasbert Drakes and Corey Collymore, not wanted for the Test segment of the Indian tour, returned home on 24 September, only to return a month later with Ricardo Powell for the one-day series.

Marlon Samuels, Gareth Breese, and three fast bowlers, Cameron Cuffy, Daren Powell and Jermaine Lawson, who were not part of the ODI squad, joined the Test players in Sri Lanka.

The Test team travelled from Colombo to India on Tuesday 3 October 2002, landing at Bangalore next morning.

Ricardo Powell, 23, along with all-rounder Vasbert Drakes and fast bowler Corey Collymore, arrived in India for the one-day series on ………

Time spent in India

   54 days

(3 October - 26 November)

On-tour selection panel

Vivian Richards (selector on tour),  Roger Harper (coach),  Ricky Skerritt (manager),  Carl Hooper captain)

Reinforcements

Jermaine Lawson was recalled to the ODI squad after injuries to Cuffy and Ryan Hinds. He joined the squad on 22 November.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in India before First Test: 

6 days

(3 October - 9 October)

Test appearances on tour

3  -  Chanderpaul,  Dillon,  Gayle,  WW Hinds,  Hooper,  Jacobs,  Sarwan

2  -  Collins,  Cuffy,  RO Hinds,  Lawson.

1 -   Breese,  Nagamootoo,  D Powell,  Samuels

0  -  Ganga.

Highlights

•   In Mumbai Carl Hooper played his hundredth Test

•   Jermaine Lawson (20 years, 277 days) became the third youngest West Indian after Marshall and Harper to make his Test debut in India

•   Chris Gayle (88) and Ryan Hinds (100) put on an opening partnership of 172 in the third Test at Kolkata.

•   Chanderpaul (140) and Samuels (104) followed up with a stand of 195, as West Indies built a total of 497.

Tour Summary

Return to West Indies

Kolkata  Q   Dhaka

Vasbert Drakes and Corey Collymore, not required for the Test segment of the Indian tour, returned home from Sri Lanka on 24 September. They returned to India on …. for the one-day series against India and Bangladesh.

Runako Morton arrived back in the Caribbean on Thursday 26 September after being given leave from the tour because of  his "bereavement".

Brian Lara returned to Piarco International Airport, Trinidad, on Friday night 27 September after flying for almost a day, to begin six weeks of rest after doctors confirmed he has contracted hepatitis.

Gareth Breese, Daren Powell and Jermaine Lawson returned home after the Indian Test series but Lawson was recalled to play in the limited-overs matches.  Vivian Richards flew to Canada to take part in an event celebrating the 21st anniversary of the independence of Antigua.

At the end of the tour skipper Carl Hooper went to Australia for a knee operation, and Merv Dillon and Ryan Hinds, also carrying injuries, went back to the Caribbean after the one-day series against India.

The remainder of the team moved on to their tour of Bangladesh, landing at Kolkata late on Monday 25 November, and leaving the next morning for Dhaka.

Time away from West Indies    x days 

(depart W Ind to arrive home in WI)