England A coach Peter Moores has warned his players against overconfidence in the preparations against Busta Cup minnows Windward Islands, in the sixth round match starting in St Lucia today.

Following their seven-wicket victory against Jamaica on Monday, England A are in a buoyant mood despite the departure of Leicestershire batsman Aftab Habib, who was forced back to England for surgery on an injured shoulder.

Since the squad arrived in St Lucia, the rain has also been falling, which has ruled out net practice at the Mindoo Phillip ground in Castries and which has cast doubt over England A's chances of pulling off an outright victory against bottom of the table Windwards to seccure their place in the semi-finals.

"It would be very easy after beating Jamaica to take this game lightly but we can't," said Moores.

"You are always wary of a side that has struggled a bit because they are going to be massively motivated to get themselves up and running so it is another big game for us.

"They hadn't had any rain at all for two weeks here but we know that this weather doesn't look like it will go away. Hopefully when we get out there, the wicket will do a little bit. Whatever game we play is likely to be shortened but we might be lucky.

"We can't control the weather. What we can do is make sure that whatever game we play we are prepared and ready to go. There is just a flat sheet over the wicket so it must have sweated a little bit. We will have to wait and see but it would be disappointing to say the least if it rains."

It may even scupper England A's hopes of reaching the semi-finals since the top of the Busta Cup table is tight with just six points separating the top four sides. Guyana and Jamaica have soft ties against the weakest sides West Indies B and Windwards as their remaining fixtures while England A have a tough match against top-of-the-table Leeward Islands in their next match in Anguilla.

They were hoping for maximum points from this game and the onset of rains may reduce their chances of playing a full four-day match.

In addition, England A were forced to move out of their hotel in Castries when it was found that the beds were too soft, aggravating problems among players with a back condition. They spent Wednesday, their day off, searching for new accommodation and making the transfer.

"It hass been a distracting couple of days," admitted Moores who, with Mark Alleyne nad John Crawley, will sit down later and select the line up for the Windwards match.

"Alex Tudor still has a sore side so it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't play. He may well start bowling, building up over the next three or four days so he is fit for the next game. We won't risk throwing him in if he's not right.

"Losing Aftab doesn't really affect the make-up of the team though without him, we no longer have a choice over the batting because we only have six batsmen here. Competition is nice but the lads know that we can go in with five all-rounders and still have strength."

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