Chris Gayle

	The Trelawny Stadium: impressive © Cricinfo Ltd

We had a good practice game against Kenya on Monday at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium and some of the guys got a feel for the new venue and a hit in the middle.

It was good to see Marlon [Samuels] scoring a hundred and that he is still in form. I hope he continues along this way.

In the bowling department the bowlers are beginning to look good for us.

We are working to be the best we can be, on getting it right and having everything come into place for us by the opening game against Pakistan on 13 March at Sabina Park.

As a personal observation, the stadium is very impressive, the surroundings look good and it is a nice ground to play cricket at.

Tuesday was a day off for us, we did a team event, playing football on the lawns of the Ritz Carlton Hotel here in Montego Bay. We are working on getting the group more united, get the group together even more. All the guys enjoyed the football session yesterday.

Wednesday it's back to more cricket skills, we will be back in the nets and focusing on the cricket aspect of our game.

We have one more practice game to go against India on Friday and it is obviously going to be a tougher challenge for us. It will, however, be a good build-up to the first game against Pakistan. We have to use these games to stamp our authority and get the early advantage especially against India.

Everyone has been looking forward to it as well.

Ramnaresh Sarwan

	'I really enjoyed the opening ceremony in South Africa in 2003 and I am sure we will put on an even better show' © Getty Images

I have to start by saying it was remiss of me not to send congratulations in my last diary to the West Indies Players Association for the wonderful Annual Awards Ceremony in Barbados. I am happy for the president Mr. Dinanath Ramnarine and obviously for winning the One Day player of the year award as well.

As you would be aware we have had five days in camp at Kingston with most of the players, although it was a bit off in terms of the whole team not being here. However you still have to make the best use of the time spent together with the players. Nevertheless we are together now as a full unit. In camp I have been batting in the nets against the spinners just to be on the safe side and to gradually groove myself back into full batting.

I'm really looking forward to our first warm-up against Kenya on March 5 as I haven't played cricket for some time. It will be an opportunity to get some sort of match practice. Additionally in order to get myself ready for the big opening game on the 13th I would have to work very hard during the remaining net sessions because I haven't had much proper practice.

We arrived today in Montego Bay and it's the fastest I've ever cleared immigration which is an excellent early sign for the organizers of the World Cup. I do hope it continues throughout the rest of the tournament.

I am particularly looking forward to the opening ceremony on the 11th of March at the new stadium in Trelawny because it's the first ever World Cup being held in the Caribbean and it would be a memorable moment that I would cherish for the rest of my life. Also I really enjoyed the opening ceremony in my first World Cup in South Africa and I am sure we will put on an even better show.

Chris Gayle

	' The team management has done a very good job so far in terms of the preparation and all has gone well' - Gayle © Getty Images

As everyone is aware, we have a pre-World Cup camp going on in Jamaica and it has been pretty good so far. Everything is going smoothly and everyone in the camp is having a good time. The team management has done a very good job so far in terms of the preparation and all has gone well.

From a batting point of view we've been doing quite a bit of game simulation and that is good leading up to the warm-up games against Kenya and India in Trelawny. It gives us a chance to get into the groove as we go on.

Today was a light day overall. We had a team briefing early this morning where we looked at players from the other teams competing in the tournament and shared information with each other. We then followed that up with a pool session. Tomorrow we will return to some more batting work. It was more of a workshop day today and tomorrow should be more intense and we will do more work on the field. That is generally how it has been so far for the camp.

The game against Kenya is very important to us. Everyone is looking forward to it, the two warm- up games will do us good leading up to the big opening game against Pakistan on March 13 at Sabina Park. These warm-up games are good for us because they will give us a chance to show what adjustments can be made leading up to the first game of the World Cup.
I am personally looking forward to playing at the brand new Trelawny Stadium for the first time. I have heard a lot of good comments about it and I'm looking forward to getting a feel of what it's like. The guys are very enthusiastic as well about it and we will all try to get acclimatized to the new stadium as soon as possible.