PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC)

The West Indies Blind Cricket Team will leave the Caribbean next Wednesday to contest the third Cricket World Cup for the Blind in Pakistan next month.

The Windies blind cricketers are in the middle of a nine-day training camp at the National Cricket Centre in Couva that will include a practice match against the Trinidad and Tobago national blind team tomorrow.

"The camp has been very valuable. This is just the final touches being put together," Bhawani Persad, the general secretary of the West Indies Cricket Council for the Blind, told CMC Sport yesterday.

"Things are coming on very nicely. They are up to it and enjoying themselves here in Trinidad and anxious now to go to Pakistan to fight the battle," Persad added.

Bharat Mangroo is coach and Margaret Jones the manager of the squad.

The opening ceremony for the World Blind Tournament will take place on Sunday December 3, which is World Disability Day.

All eight teams will begin competition in a round-robin format on December 4 in Islamabad, gunning for the title currently being held by hosts Pakistan.

Newcomers West Indies will tackle New Zealand in their opening game, while Pakistan face Australia, Sri Lanka meet England, and India play South Africa.

In the semi-finals on December 13 and 14, the points leaders from the round-robin will play the fourth-placed team and second will tackle third.

The final will be played on December 16.

Encouraged by the standard of play at this year's first ever West Indies Blind Cricket Championship in Barbados that Jamaica won, Persad is anxious to see the players tackle the world's best in Islamabad.

"It's our first venture (at the world level) and whatever we accomplish it will be both a learning experience as well as an opportunity for players to prove themselves at the international level," Persad declared.

SQUAD: Gregor Damaz, Phillip Herelle (St Lucia); Ganish Singh, Oliver Kerr, Patrick Dillon Howard (Guyana); Adrian Ragoonanon, Ulric Andrews (Trinidad and Tobago); Toussaint Gardner, Damion Oliver Rose, Orrell Richards, Denol Shim, Damain Simpson, Daemion McLean (Jamaica); Anthony Cummins, Ricardo Manning, Cheryl Griffith, Trevor Broomes (Barbados).