Tour of South Africa 2007-08          Captain : Chris Gayle

Third Test-playing tour of South Africa by West Indies

(November 2007 -

         February 2008)

West Indies made a wonderful start to the South African tour recording their first win for 2½ years when they beat South Africa in the opening Test at Port Elizabeth by 128 runs.  West Indies also fought hard in the second Test when Gayle, despite a torn hamstring and broken thumb, helped set a target of 185, which only an aggressive innings by Graeme Smith ensured was reached.  A heavy defeat without Gayle followed in Durban, and West Indies lost the series 2-1.  Being overwhelmed 5-0 in the one-day international series ended the tour on a dismal note, even accepting that they were without their two senior but injured players Gayle and Sarwan.  Though team spirit was restored, a brighter future remained on hold.

The decision to proceed with the pre-tour fortnight in Zimbabwe was based on a favourable report from an independent security firm, and the tourists achieved a comfortable series win.

Other West Indies tours

Previous tour

England 2007 

Next tour

New Zealand 2008-09

Next South African tour

Members of the Test tour party

Teams:   

B - Barbados

G - Guyana

J - Jamaica

L - Leeward Islands

T - Trinidad & Tobago

W - Windward Islands

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(at 26 December 2007)      

     27 yrs  7 months

ODI (Z) (SA)  Member of ODI squad in Zimbabwe or in South Africa

Test Appearances made before the tour

Chanderpaul 104,  Gayle 68,  Ganga 45,  Collins 32,  Edwards 27,  Samuels 24,  Smith 24,  Bravo 23,  Powell 22,  Ramdin 19,  Taylor 13, Morton 10,  Lewis 4,  Sammy 1,  Parchment 0,  Browne 0 

Team Officials

¥ Coach John Dyson and trainer CJ Clark did not accompany the team on the tour of Zimbabwe but joined the team in South Africa.

Selectors

Gordon Greenidge (convenor), Clyde Butts and Andy Roberts

Selection

The West Indies Cricket Board approved the appointment of Clive Lloyd as manager and Chris Gayle as captain on 17 November; and of Dwayne Bravo as vice-captain on 26 November.

On 7 November the West Indies selectors announced the names of 23 players who would attend a training camp at the WICB's High Performance Centre, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados, between 11 and 22 November.

Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Browne, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Sewnarine Chattergoon, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Amit Jaggernauth, Rawl Lewis, Runako Morton, Brenton Parchment, Nelon Pascal, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith, Jerome Taylor

Sarwan (ankle injury) and Samuels (leg injury) were subsequently added to the camp.

On 17 November the selectors named the squad for 15 for the ODIs in Zimbabwe

Unavailable: Brian Lara (retired),  Ramnaresh Sarwan (ankle injury)

Tour Party Announced :  27 November 2008.

For the South Africa series, West Indies will have two changes in their squad from the Zimbabwe tour, left-arm pacer Pedro Collins and Daren Ganga in for

Not selected :  Corey Collymore

Travel

Departure was on Sunday 25 November in two groups: one from Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados, in the evening and the other from Norman Manley Airport, Kingston, Jamaica.

Their arrival in Zimbabwe on 27 November was delayed by eight hours after failing to connect with the flight from South Africa because of a delay caused by their excess luggage which was expected to be cleared later in the day at Johannesburg International Airport.

Collins and Ganga joined the squad in Johannesburg while Ravi Rampaul and Narsingh Deonarine were not required for the Test series in South Africa

The tour party arrived from Harare, Zimbabwe, into Oliver Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, on Monday evening 10 December

Ravi Rampaul and batsman Sewnarine Chattergoon arrived in Johannesburg on Tuesday 15 January to join the West Indians for the one-day international series against South Africa replacing opener Daren Ganga and left-arm seamer Pedro Collins.

On-tour selection

Reinforcements

Patrick Browne, 25, was called up after the management decided that a second wicket-keeper should share the workload with Denesh Ramdin. He arrived in Cape Town on Tuesday 1 Jan 2008.

Bravo led the West Indies from the third Test onwards after Chris Gayle was forced out with a broken left thumb.  He returned to Jamaica on 22 January

Fixtures/Results

§  ODI

� not first-class

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Bravo,  Chanderpaul,  Edwards,  Ganga,  Morton,  Powell,  Ramdin,  Samuels,  Taylor

2  -   Gayle,  Sammy

1  -   Lewis,  Parchment

0  -   Browne,  Collins,  Smith

Highlights

•  Chanderpaul reached 50 for the seventh consecutive innings in the first Test equalling Everton Weekes' record.  After an innings of 8, in the second Test he scored two more fifties

•  Marlon Samuels was the leading batsman with 314 runs (average 52.33). In the third Test he made a career-best 105.

•  Devon Smith scored 91 off 76 deliveries in the 5th ODI but still West Indies could not beat South Africa

Tour Summary

Return to West Indies

The West Indies team returned on Tuesday 5 February 2008.  Stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo, along with Rampaul, Ramdin, Sammy, Devon Smith, Morton, Lewis, Chattergoon, Edwards and  Browne all touched down at Grantley Adams International Airport, Bridgetown, at around 4 pm and the players took connecting flights to their home countries.  The Jamaicans - Brenton Parchment, Jerome Taylor, Daren Powell and Marlon Samuels - went directly from London to Kingston on 4 February.

Finances

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Published accounts of the tour

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