Australia go on cruise trip to forget travel hassles
Australia are banking on team camaraderie strengthened by Barbados' tranquil waters to offset the turbulent journeys taken by several of their most important players only days before their ICC T20 World Cup campaign begins.
The final pieces of a trans-continental puzzle have just about fallen into place after their final five squad members, all of whom featured in the Indian Premier League playoffs, landed in Barbados.
Captain Pat Cummins luggage got lost in the transit while flight delays affected Mitchell Starc and Glenn Maxwell's arrival as well, who had to spend a night in Los Angeles and then another night in Miami en route to Barbados.
Earlier, Marcus Stoinis couldn't take part in a warm-up match against the West Indies in Trinidad last week when his cricket kit failed to arrive on the island.
While hardly disastrous or unprecedented, the hold-ups have left several of the Aussies' most important players with scant time on the ground and still feeling the effects of several long flights only days before their tournament opener against Oman on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST).
But with all players on deck by Saturday, the squad freshened up with a few drinks while sailing the Caribbean coastline, spinner Ashton Agar said.
"A lot of the boys are coming off a long time in India in the IPL, maybe 48 hours at home for a couple of them, so to do something like that is so refreshing," Agar told reporters.
"We were sitting on the roof of the catamaran as we were coming back last night and 'Stoin' [Stoinis] actually mentioned that, 'I don't know if many other teams would be like this'.
"You've got all the boys sitting on the roof watching the sun go down, having a drink together, having a genuinely good time and enjoying each other's company. It was pretty easy to forget you're here for a World Cup."
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