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Team manager Clive Lloyd said yesterday, the spirit among the West Indies players was high.

``The guys are all together under (captain) Lara,'' Lloyd said. ``They are confident that they can beat Australia again. We know that it is going to be harder next time but at least, we know that we can go out there and compete and beat them.''

He said they are happy to have all-rounder Carl Hooper back.

``Carl has been an excellent player for us recently and looks to be in some sort of form with a hundred against the Australians for the 'A' team. He plays spin very well and will be an asset to the team,'' Lloyd said.

The team suffered a setback when Shivnarine Chanderpaul who has failed to recover fully from a shoulder injury he suffered during the tour of South Africa and did not train yesterday.

``It's been more than six weeks since he hurt it in South Africa but there is still obvious discomfort when he throws,'' West Indies fitness adviser Dennis Waight said.

Scoring heavily

Chanderpaul has been scoring heavily for his club side in Guyana but has been doing little fielding.

Australia have an injury worry as well. Greg Blewett was forced to seek treatment after being hit on his right thumb while batting against paceman Jason Gillespie on Wednesday and a local net bowler, yesterday. He had precautionary X-rays but Australian team physiotherapist Errol Alcott said there was no sign of any breaks or chips. ``He's pretty sore, we'll just have to see how he comes up,'' Alcott said.