New Zealand team manager, and former Test captain, Jeff Crowe is picking the weather to be a deciding factor in the forthcoming international series with the West Indies.

The New Zealanders have been hamstrung, not always the wisest of metaphors given the side's history of fitness misfortune, by bad weather since arriving in Jamaica and have been confined to indoor practice sessions at the University of the West Indies in the city.

However, the rain has stopped after 10 days and there is hope that tomorrow's scheduled warm-up game against the University selection, which is to be captained by Courtney Walsh, will be played to give the New Zealanders a taste of the outdoors before their One-Day International series starts on Wednesday.

"It has hampered our practice greatly and only today will we get into the nets. We are not sure how they will be, but at least the signs are better," Crowe said.

The game tomorrow will include University of West Indies players and some locals.

"We have been doing strength work and team drills in the indoor gym daily as well as having team meetings to gather all the necessary information for the coming series," he said.

The team are all fit and looking forward to the series.

"I sense weather could be a factor during this series," Crowe said.

New Zealand had an uneventful passage to the West Indies, after breaking the journey in Los Angeles where they took in a trip to Dodger Stadium to see how American baseballers execute their skills.

© CricInfo