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The New Zealand and Australian World Cup cricketers have banished their wives and girlfriends from the Caribbean, apparently so the players can be free from distractions at the business end of the tournament.
While England's wives and girlfriends (WAGs) have recently arrived in Antigua to share some time with the players, their Antipodean counterparts are already safely at home, having agreed to depart at the end of the group phase.
About half the New Zealand tour party - including management - were visited by their partners during the warm-up stage in Jamaica and Barbados and for the three opening round matches on the island of St Lucia. Among the wives and girlfriends were the partners of Daniel Vettori, Jacob Oram, and Scott Styris.
Team manager Lindsay Crocker confirmed that while some WAGs of management personnel had remained on tour, the senior players' committee had decided they'd prefer the happy-families arrangement to end before the Super Eights.
"The senior players decided as a group that they'd prefer if their partners didn't venture beyond St Lucia. It was their decision," he said.
"They just wanted to be certain that there'd be no distractions. I'd have to say though, that at St Lucia where the bulk of them were - it worked really well and struck a nice balance."
Crocker said in his experience as manager, the issue of WAGs was regularly discussed and that he always favoured unrestricted access.
"We kick this around each year and in many ways it provides the players with a lot of normality in terms of maintaining relationships - and I think that's important for their general well-being.
"The counter argument is that it's a distraction and that it takes people away from the central group but, certainly in my time, it's tipped more towards allowing players the chance to maintain normal relationships." He added it could be argued that Englishman Andrew Flintoff's drunken episode in a pedal boat at St Lucia wouldn't have happened had the wives and girlfriends been around.
For all that, Australia came under heavy fire for allowing their partners to be in attendance during the 2005 Ashes loss; many critics claiming their presence diluted the players' camaraderie and team spirit, and encouraged individualism.
In turn, England received a similar broadside after this season's debacle in Australia coincided with a long holiday Down Under for many of the partners, as well as the players' parents and extended families.
In fact, England have embraced the concept so enthusiastically that the WAGs are paid a daily allowance while on tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, and their children each receive a half share.
About half the Australian players' WAGs were also farewelled at the end of the first round, having being flown over to the Caribbean at the expense of Cricket Australia. Michael Clarke's partner Lara Bingle (she of Australia's "Where the Bloody Hell Are You" fame), Stuart Clark's wife Michelle and their son Lachlan, and four of coach John Buchanan's five children were among those who took the chance to visit. Glenn McGrath's wife Jane, who has been battling cancer, and Matthew Hayden's wife Kellie - due to give birth to their third child three days after the tournament - opted against travelling.
Hayden has said he will not withdraw from the tournament if his wife goes into labour.
Crocker said New Zealand Cricket's arrangements didn't extend as far paying for the WAGs to visit.
"We've always had a policy of them being able to come if they want - but they'd have to pay their own way."
Good therapy
Sex therapist Grant Boddington says the Black Caps are more likely to play hard and play well if anxiety is kept to a minimum, and he is surprised at the decision to fly home the wives and partners of our national cricket team.
"The separation anxiety is counter-productive," Boddington, the developer of Mind Mechanics, told the Herald on Sunday last night.
British market-research firm ICM found in a study last year that 50 per cent of British blokes were too stressed for sex at the end of the working day.
- additional reporting: Jonathan Marshall
