Windies arrive for World Cup campaign

Sydney, Jan 31 (IANS) A weary but upbeat West Indies side arrived here to begin preparations for the 2015 cricket World Cup.

They arrived to a warm reception from fans and well-wishers Friday following a 12-hour flight from South Africa and are expected to get right down to their preparation ahead of the start of the tournament Feb 14, reports CMC.

The team will spend eight days in the glitzy east coast city prior to the start of the World Cup and will focus on specific skills of batting, fielding and death and power play bowling. They will utilise local club facilities.

Off the field, the West Indies are expected to meet a few members of the West Indian community here.

The Caribbean side enter the World Cup on the heels of a solid 1-4 drubbing in the five-match one-day series against South Africa which finished earlier this week. In Wednesday’s final game, they went down by 131 runs, a result that summed up the tone of the series.

They face old rivals England in their first warm-up game at the Sydney Cricket Ground Feb 9 before taking on Scotland at the same venue two days later.

The West Indies will then fly to New Zealand for their first game of the World Cup, taking on Ireland at Saxton Oval in Nelson. They have been installed in Group B of the competition alongside Pakistan, Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and United Arab Emirates.