Questions surround the West Indies team that set out yesterday for Australia, where they will engage what is still, arguably, the most formidable cricket team in the world. The most crucial of these is how the players will bind together, given that the squad is made up of players who took part in the prolonged strike caused by the dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and Players Association (WIPA) and those who, by breaking the strike, came into such prominence that they are now part of this all-inclusive line-up.

The new manager is the legendary former West Indian fast bowler, Joel Garner, and he can be under no illusions that his first task would be to rid the team of any resentment that may prevent them from cohering against opponents among whose claim to fame is the relish with which they exploit any perceived weaknesses over and above, of course, the strength that resides in the sheer talent of their players.

Mr Garner may want to look back on the split in the West Indies team in 1978 when the intervention of Australian Kerry Packer led to two Windies teams, one official and the other unofficial. After the hostilities, the two factions merged into an almost seamless whole and there was even evidence that even before that the ’Packer’ players went out of their way to assist the make-shift team - all in the name and spirit of West Indies cricket.

But that was a different time with a different level of maturity, so the manager may well find that he has his work cut out in the present tour, even before a ball is bowled, if the former ’strikers’ do not move past their old angst and go out of their way to include in the fraternity the young players whose only crime, after all, was to jump at the chance of playing for the West Indies provided them by the absence of the regular players.

The second question, of course, has to do with the captaincy of Chris Gayle, who in the recent past not only voiced a lack of desire for the leadership post but for all but the shortest form of the game. While, given the contenders, his retention by the West Indies selectors is understandable, all eyes - including the Australians - will be on him to see the level of sustained commitment that he brings to a game where, more than most, captaincy can be the difference between winning and losing.

In the face of all this, one is tempted to declare that West Indies cricket is at the cross-roads. But over the last decade, such declarations have become almost ritual which, in itself, is an indication of the downward slide the once all-conquering regional game has had to suffer.

Perhaps, then, the only consolation has to be that the only possible movement now has to be up.