Shamar, Motie miss WI's tour game after flight from Guyana cancelled
Written by I Dig SportsFirst-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
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.
Kavem Hodge shines on day one of tour game
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."