The caribbeancricket.com website has reported that most of the West Indies squad had to spend an extra two days in the UK waiting for flights back to the Caribbean.
The team flew back to London after their game in Dublin on Saturday but flights for the onward journey home were not immediately available, so since then those players who have not gone on to join counties have been at a hotel at Gatwick airport.
A spokesman for the board said that all the players had left on a flight earlier today. "The travel arrangements for the team were made a long time ago in order to secure business-class seats on the flights. It is a stipulation of the industrial agreement that the team travels business class. The original schedule for the Ireland leg of the British Isles tour was scheduled for Belfast with a completion date of July 16, 2007. The organizers shifted the tournament to Dublin with a completion date of July 16, 2007. Every effort was made by the WICB to have the players fly home on July 16 or July 17. However, British Airways were unable to accommodate the WICB's request as business-class seats were not available. BA advised the WICB to keep the original bookings."
The website estimates that this administrative glitch could cost the West Indies board somewhere in the region of US$15,000 in accommodation, expenses and meal allowances.
