Following their Warm-up fixture earlier today – which brought to a close ICC CWC 2007 action at Arnos Vale Sports Complex – captains of both squads spoke glowingly of the last week spent on the picturesque cluster of islands.

“We’ve had a great time and some very good food. We’ve been looked after very well by the hotel staff and in getting around – and we won two games which makes it even better,” said a smiling Aussie skipper, Ricky Ponting, after his players easily overcame England by five wickets.

His opposite number, Michael Vaughan, praised the people of St. Vincent & the Grenadines for their hospitality, noting “we’re delighted with the accommodations, the practice facilities and the way people have welcomed us”.

“We couldn’t have asked for anything more to get used to Caribbean conditions. It’s been a good week of training,” said the opening batsman.

Meanwhile, on a national holiday when ‘Vincies’ and other Caribbean fans – some having flown in specially for the match – mingled with spectators from the two competing Participating Nations to fill Arnos Vale with a crowd of more than 5,000, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ronald Christopher, said there were no reports of any unruly behaviour.

In fact, the senior lawman stated that security forces who worked at the stadium throughout the week “could feel satisfied” with how they performed in the four-match, Warm-up series involving Australia, Bermuda, England and Zimbabwe.

“Obviously, we wouldn’t have been tested here like some of the other countries will be tested during the actual tournament but we had a much larger crowd today and more challenging circumstances for our officers.

“However, because we’ve been able to go through our procedures over the last few days, we’ve gotten everything right today and the team performed well,” concluded Christopher, a member of CWC’s Security Directorate.