The West Indies had their inaugural training session on November 3, after the squad on tour in New Zealand, tested negative for COVID-19.
However, they will undergo further coronavirus tests before they can be released from the mandatory 14-day isolation.
The team and management, which will next week be boosted by the arrival of an additional half-a-dozen players of their Twenty20 International (T20I) squad, have been in isolation in a bio-secure facility in Christchurch following their 54-hour flight from Barbados.
With their first three days subjected to isolation, they are now set to continue training in small groups at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University. But the majority were forced to wear warm clothing and beanie hats as a blustering wind left the temperatures colder than expected.
The T20I World Champions are scheduled to play a trio of one-day matches against the hosts before the pair of Test matches begin on December 3. The Windies expect to be joined by six T20I squad members who are competing in the highly lucrative Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates, which concludes on November 10. Yet it seems highly probable that they will be stuck in isolation until the morning of the opening T20I in Auckland on November 27.
Aiming to put the disappointment of their 2-1 series defeat to England in July behind them and give their fans some joy, is a tough ask as New Zealand are an unknown quantity. The Kiwis have been out of action since March, when they played host to Australia in a behind closed doors one-day international in Sydney.
The Windies have named two separate squads. Jason Holder will captain the two Tests, with the Barbados all-rounder given half-a-dozen reserve players including Jamaica’s leg spinner Nkrumah Bonner. Trinidad’s Kieron Pollard remains skipper of the T20I squad. Having won just seven of their past 20 Tests, their last triumph was in July’s 1st Test in England, the Windies languish at world no.8 in the ICC Test rankings. They will be aiming not to be caught out again after delivering indifferent performances during the seven-week tour of England.