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Kingston - At a time when it is felt that his services are especially needed for overseas tours, Dr. Rudi Webster will not be part of the West Indies contingent for the upcoming tour of Australia.

The noted sports psychologist will also not be used for the squad’s week-long camp which begins in Jamaica tomorrow.

Webster said he had no recent discussions with the West Indies Cricket Board (WIBC), but added that pressing commitments would have almost certainly made him unavailable for the three-month long tour starting on November 7.

"I’ve got a project that I am trying to set up here in Grenada," he told SUNSPORT from his Morne Rogue, St. George’s home. "Even if they had asked me, I don't think I would have been able to go. It would have been difficult to do it."

He identified his immediate responsibility as the St. George’s University Cricket Institute of which he is the director.

"I see that as a top priority at the moment and I think that is going to keep me fairly busy. The institute is needed. It is more of a priority now than anything else because you can see what is happening to our cricket."

He said he was hoping to have the institute, which is located on Grenada’s south coast, to be fully functional by early next year.

Informed sources in Kingston told SUNSPORT that in Webster’s absence, another psychologist had been contracted by the WICB to work with the team during the camp.

A WICB source said that details of the camp’s roster were still being finalised.

During the last two years, Webster was retained as a performance consultant for home series against Australia, Zimbabwe and Pakistan, but he has been seldom used on overseas tours, in which the West Indies’ record has been dismal.

© The Barbados Nation