The West Indies begin their limited overs’ series in Australia tonight (Caribbean time) having been hit hard by injuries. Five senior West Indies players — Messrs Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo, Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards — as well as Messrs Adrian Barath and Sulieman Benn have all been sidelined.

Ironically though, there is, among cricket analysts and enthusiasts, a far greater sense of optimism than was the case late last year when the West Indies team, including all the above-named players excepting Mr Edwards, arrived in Australia for a three-Test tour.

Back then, pessimism was driven by the fear that deep fractures had developed in team unity following an embarrassing industrial relations impasse that resulted in makeshift teams representing the region against touring Bangladesh and subsequently in the Champions Trophy.

That bitter dispute meant that the Test squad for Australia, when finally assembled under the leadership of Mr Chris Gayle, was woefully underprepared in every respect.

Worst fears seemed realised when the Australians overwhelmed the visitors by an innings and 65 runs inside three days in the first Test match at Brisbane.

To their eternal credit, Mr Gayle and his men found it within themselves to rally after that humiliation. They did so to such an extent that by the end of the three-Test series they had earned the respect of the cricketing world, despite losing 2-0. Much of that respect flowed from the creditable, never-say-die attitude and performance of not just the senior players, with Mr Gayle being a standout, but also several with little or no reputation outside of the Caribbean.

Knowledgeable cricket followers are not expecting this injury-hit squad to beat Australia in the one-day series. But if the West Indies were to demonstrate the same fight and determination that were so proudly on show in December, their fans will be very pleased.

A strong performance against Australia will provide confidence ahead of the ICC World 20-20 tournament to be held in the Caribbean in April/May and the Limited Overs and Test tour by the South Africans in May/June. Before those two major challenges, the West Indies will need to deal with what should be the relatively modest hurdle to be presented by Zimbabwe in a limited overs series in March.

However, as we all know from hard experience — most recently from that damaging industrial fracas last year — things are unlikely to go well on the field if the situation off the field is in disarray.

In that respect, this newspaper — like all West Indians — is bothered by the continued bickering between the West Indies Cricket Board and the players’ union, the West Indies Players’ Association. In the interest of West Indies cricket, they really need to quit feuding.