Tour of Pakistan 2006-07                  Captain: Brian Lara

57th official Test tour

Tenth official Test-playing tour of Pakistan by West Indies

 (11th away series v Pakistan)

  (September -

       December 2006)

The West Indians made a gruelling tour of nearly four months across Asia.  Firstly, they reached the finals of two one-day tournaments - the DLF Cup tri-series in Malaysia and the Champions Trophy in India, before moving on to their Test tour of Pakistan.  West Indies had not been to Pakistan for nine years, having until now refused to tour there because of security concerns in the wake of the September 11 attacks so that Pakistan had to play their previous home series on neutral ground in Sharjah in 2002.  West Indies had last played Test cricket in Pakistan in 1997.

The Pakistan Cricket Board declined to adjust the tour dates to allow the West Indians to participate in the $5 million Stanford superstars T20 in Antigua and subsequently the match was cancelled.

The Test series was lost 2-0.  On slow surfaces the bowlers had to work hard but were let down by poor catching which let Pakistan off the hook in a number of tight situations. Mohammad Yousuf scored 665 runs in the three Tests.

Marlon Samuels scored a brilliant century in the last match and appeared to have broken through as a batsman but within a month an anti-corruption unit of the ICC was investigating him for match-fixing at Nagpur with bookie Mukesh Kochar.

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

New Zealand 2005-06

Next tour

England  2007

Next Pakistan tour

 None scheduled

Members of the Test tour party   (15)

Opening batsmen Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Lendl Simmons.

Middle-order batsmen:  Shiv Chanderpaul, Brian Lara, Runako Morton, Ramnaresh Sarwan.

Wicket-keeper:  Dinesh Ramdin

All-rounder:  Dwayne Bravo

Spin bowlers  Omari Banks, Dave Mohammad

Fast bowlers  Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell, Jerome Taylor.

Regional representation

B - Barbados (2)

G  - Guyana (2)

Ja  - Jamaica (3)

L - Leeward Islands (2)

T - Trinidad & Tobago (6)

W  - Windward Islands (0)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(11 November 2006) :

  25 yrs  11 months

ODI  Chosen as member of the one-day series squad in Malaysia & India (M) and Pakistan (P)

Test Appearances made before the tour

Lara 128,  Chanderpaul 98,  Sarwan 63,  Gayle 61,  Ganga 38,  Edwards 24,  Collymore 23,  Powell 17,  Bravo 16,  Ramdin 12,  Banks 10,  Taylor 7,  Morton 4,  Mohammad 3,  Simmons 0.

Team Officials

* Australian Cavanagh, who was hired in April 2005, resigned following the Test series against Pakistan, David Moore taking on his duties for the one-day series.

* It was announced on 3 October that Clive Lloyd would join the Champions Trophy squad in India to support the team management.

Selectors

Selection

Team for DLF Cup series announced  5 August 2006.

Test Tour Party Announced : 2 October 2007 .

Trinidad opening batsman Lendl Simmons, the nephew of Phil Simmons, was the only uncapped player in the team. Bowlers Omari Banks, Dave Mohammed, and Daren Powell all earned recalls. Both fast bowlers Edwards and Taylor were vulnerable to back strains.

Not selected : Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Ian Bradshaw, Pedro Collins.

One-day team for Pakistan announced: 24 November 2006.

Banks, Edwards, Ganga and Collymore were not required for the one-day series and would return home after the Test matches, when the team would be joined by Ian Bradshaw, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith.

Time between selection and departure from West Indies

  33 days

(5 August to 7 September)

Travel

?   Q  Kuala Lumpur Q   New Delhi  Q   Lahore

The tour started with the DLF Cup in Malaysia  and then went on to play the ICC Champions Trophy in India.  The 14-man squad left the Caribbean on 7 September and arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 9 September. The players were jet-lagged from their long journey when undertaking their first practice session at the humid Kinrar Academy Oval, Kuala Lumpur. After playing in the DLF final, the team had a week of practice in Malaysia before the Champions Trophy, and arrived in New Delhi on Saturday evening 30 September after their week-long camp in Kuala Lumpur.

After playing the ICC Trophy final against Australia (a day/night match on 5 November), the West Indies Test squad flew out of Mumbai and arrived via New Delhi at Lahore. They landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, on Monday night 6 November 2006.  Brian Lara and coach Bennett King postponed their arrival press conference the following day at the Pearl Continental Hotel.

Ian Bradshaw, Marlon Samuels and Dwayne Smith later joined the squad for the ODI series.

Time spent in Pakistan

   x days

(6 November - December)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Daren Ganga was retained for the one-day series in Pakistan after Sarwan broke his foot.  Corey Collymore was also retained for the one-day series as cover for Bravo

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

⊕  Twenty20 international

Time spent in Pakistan before First Test: 

5 days

(6 November - 11 November

Test appearances on tour

3  -  Bravo,  Chanderpaul,  Collymore,  Ganga,  Gayle,  Lara,  Ramdin,  Taylor

2  -  Mohammad,  Morton,  Powell,  Sarwan

1  -  Edwards

0  -  Banks,  Simmons.

Match appearances

Highlights

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Tour Summary

Return to West Indies

KarachiQ  London Q   Bridgetown

Lara said  "On a whole we've enjoyed Pakistan, it came on the back of a couple of one-day tournaments so it was always going to be tough but the guys have played three and a half months of tough cricket and we've just got to go away from here, get some rest and get ready for the New Year." (Gleanor 18th)

Banks and Edwards returned home after the Test series as they were not part of the one-day team.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (because of a hairline fracture on his right foot) and Dwayne Bravo (because of family illness - "to be with persons close to him who are unwell") were unable to play in the one-day series and also returned home after the Test series.  Bravo flew home on Friday night 1 December and Sarwan on 5 December.

The team ended the four month tour by flying from Karachi via London, arriving at Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados, on 20 December.

Time away from West Indies    x days  

(depart W Ind to 20 December)

Finances