LONDON, May 15: West Indies batsman Chris Gayle believes the curfew imposed on the team during their tour of England is an unnecessary restriction - but he has said he will obey it all the same.

Following several reports of unprofessional and ill-disciplined conduct by the West Indies players during the recent World Cup in the Caribbean, where the side failed to make it to the semi-finals, officials have imposed an 11.30pm (2230GMT) curfew on the squad during their four-Test tour of England.

Gayle, one of the senior players in a largely youthful squad, regretted the move although he said here on Tuesday he understood why it had been introduced.

“There's always changes in life and cricket as well,” he told reporters at Lord's, where the first Test starts on Thursday. “The curfew, I guess it will keep the guys more on their toes and try to get the best out of the players even more. I wouldn't agree with the curfew but it's the team rule, team policy so you have to go along with it,” said the 27-year-old opening batsman, a veteran of 64 Tests.

“If it was in my hands I would have let guys be more free and do what they want to do in the lead up to the first Test match,” said the left-hander, who has scored 4,259 Test runs at an average of 38.71 with seven hundreds. “I'm just speaking for myself, that's my point of view.”

Thursday's match will be the first the West Indies have played since the retirement of former captain Brian Lara, Test cricket's leading run-scorer, who quit following the World Cup.

There is a new look feel to the squad with Ramnaresh Sarwan the captain and coach David Moore, who succeeded fellow Australian Bennett King after the World Cup, now in charge.

But the weather has so far conspired against the new set up with only 48 overs play possible in the West Indies’ drawn warm-up match against Somerset at Taunton, where two of the scheduled three days' play were totally washed out in the tourists' only warm-up game before coming to Lord's.

“We would have liked more practice going into the first game but rain played a part and there's nothing we can do about that. We'll have to use the indoor facilities and make the best of that,” said Gayle, nursing a thumb injury but expected to be fit come Thursday.

“There's a disadvantage towards us but we are professional and we'll just have to go out there, put our best foot forward and play as a team. But a lack of practice has been our downfall so far.”—AFP