Shamar, Motie miss WI's tour game after flight from Guyana cancelled

First-Class Counties Select XI 15 for 0 trail West Indies 339 (Hodge 112, Athanaze 74, McKenzie 73, Louis 50, Ahmed 4-48, Turner 4-60) by 324 runs

Fast bowler Shamar Joseph and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie were late to link up with the West Indies Test squad in England after their flight from Guyana was cancelled because of Hurricane Beryl, which has left the Caribbean in distress over the past few days. Shamar and Motie, subsequently, were absent from the visitors' line-up for the three-day warm-up game against the First Class Counties XI, which started in Beckenham from Wednesday.

It is understood that Motie landed in London later in the day, while Shamar will arrive on Friday. This means they will be good to go for the first Test, which starts at Lord's on July 10.

Shamar had grabbed the headlines in January after a fantastic spell to stun Australia in the Brisbane Test and help West Indies draw the two-match series 1-1. He is expected to play a key role for West Indies in England too, as part of a fast-bowling unit which will be led by Alzarri Joseph after Kemar Roach pulled out due to injury recently. Jayden Seales is likely to be the third fast bowler West Indies utilise in the three-match series, keeping in mind the strong form he has displayed in the second division of county cricket where he is among the leading wicket-takers with 24 wickets in six matches at an average of 24.25 including two five-fors.

Kavem Hodge shines on day one of tour game

July might be summer in England but Wednesday in Beckenham was overcast and windy, forcing both locals and visitors to put on their hoodies and tuck their hands into their pockets. The nippy weather, though, didn't have any impact on the West Indians: on the back of a spirited 112 from Kavem Hodge and half-centuries from Alick Athanaze , Kirk McKenzie and Mikyle Louis , they posted 339 in their first innings after electing to bat in front of 1200-odd fans, including a healthy Caribbean contingent.

Hodge, who is on his maiden England trip, said he found it cold but enjoyed his first outing and cannot wait to get to Lord's.

"It's always a dream to play that at Lord's," Hodge said after the day's play. "Something growing up as a kid that you sit and dream about, you watch a lot of cricket at Lord's. It's something I am looking forward to: getting the opportunity to sit and watch the game, play there with the crowd, the prestige, the home of cricket, it's something that every cricketer aspires to do."

Like Shamar, Hodge - who at 31 has played only two Tests - was part of the memorable win at the Gabba win in January, scoring 71 and 29. Hodge said the character shown by West Indies in the Australia series could keep their self-belief high in England too.

"It [the Gabba win] has played a big role in the sense of belief that we have as a team. Going into a Test match against Australia with [several] debutants [on the tour], I don't think much people give us a sniff, but it proved to everybody that the belief that we have as a team, we prepared well.

"I must big up Andrew Coley [head coach] and his backroom staff, they put in a lot of work and a lot of work that people don't see, but it showed there on the field. So it's something that really pushed us and we just continued to ride off that."