New Zealand's preparations for the one-day and Test series against West Indies have been severely hampered by poor weather. Their arrival in Jamaica coincided with a spell of 11 days of continual rain. Perhaps the decision to stage the series during the rainy season might have given the organisers a clue that there might be problems. As a result, the New Zealander spent a considerable amount of time in the indoor nets at the University of the West Indies in the city. At least the rain stopped in time for them to play a warm-up match on Monday (June 3)

"It has hampered our practice greatly and we only just got into the nets," shrugged Jeff Crowe, New Zealand's coach. "We are not sure how they will be, but at least the signs are better.

"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. With a sense of foreboding he added that he sensed "the weather could be a factor during this series".

New Zealand's preparations for the tour might have been far from ideal, but West Indies come into the series fresh from Test and one-day series against India. Roger Harper, the West Indies coach, said that they had to hit the ground running. "It's important that we get a good start, get Wednesday's game under our belt and set the tone for the series. The team understands this, thus I expect them to come out and play to best of their ability."

Harper also has revenge on his mind. The last time these sides met in a full series (in New Zealand in 1999-2000) the West Indies lost both Tests inside four days and were hammered 4-1 in the one-day internationals. "They are a very competitive team with players who can turn the game at any time," admitted Harper. "They work very hard for each other and we expect nothing different from them on this tour.

"We were a bit disappointed with the loss against India, but the team is still in good spirits and are looking towards the challenge."

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd