EAST is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet, according to Kipling, but it is not necessarily so for the 14 ambitious, highly motivated players who set off today on the England A tour to the West Indies, where they will play two four-day “Tests” and five one-day internationals.

Two of the squad, James Anderson and Kabir Ali, are booked to travel in the opposite direction and join the senior squad for the seven one-day internationals against India, several more are on standby for the Test and one-day teams and the rest know that outstanding performances could catch the eye of Duncan Fletcher, the coach, and Michael Vaughan, the captain, if they need reinforcements.

There has never been a better time to be selected for the A team because the workload over the next 12 months is so intense that there are bound to be opportunities for those on the fringe of the senior squad.

It is nearly five months since Peter Moores took over from Rod Marsh in the twin roles of national academy director and A team coach and the emphasis has shifted from developing youngsters of potential to supplying players who are ready to play for England. Moores is in constant touch with Fletcher about what his requirements are and David Graveney and Geoff Miller, the other two selectors, have been regular visitors to the academy this winter.

Moores, unlike Marsh, is not a selector, but does not believe that this is an issue. “Communication is what matters most,” he said. “I see my role as doing everything that is necessary to pass players on to England ready to play. Obviously they will still need to gain experience in Test cricket but they must have the tools in the tool box.

“The key for me is passing the information on to the right people, pushing the players’ cause, and it may be easier for me to do that outside the selection group than in it.”

Moores was fully involved in the selection of the A team, who will be captained by Vikram Solanki and include a further eight players — Anderson, Kabir, Gareth Batty, Rikki Clarke, Sajid Mahmood, Chris Read, Owais Shah and Alex Wharf — with Test or one-day international experience.

“They have all had time to think about what they have to do to get back in the England side and it is a question of whether they can do it,” Moores said.

Moores believes that all the players have the same opportunity to impress. “Quite rightly, the selectors have not named the standby players because that would tie their hands a bit,” Moores said. “They will have 14 England players playing in the West Indies and if someone is performing well and it is felt he could fill a hole in the England team he will get the call.”

ENGLAND A SQUAD: V S Solanki (Worcestershire, captain), Kabir Ali (Worcestershire), J M Anderson (Lancashire), G J Batty (Worcestershire), R Clarke (Surrey), A N Cook (Essex), J W M Dalrymple (Middlesex), E C Joyce (Middlesex), A G R Loudon (Warwickshire), S I Mahmood (Lancashire), C M W Read (Nottinghamshire), O A Shah (Middlesex), A G Wharf (Glamorgan), M H Yardy (Sussex).

ITINERARY: Feb 19-21: v Antigua XI (Antigua); Feb 24-27: v West Indies A (Antigua); March 3-6: v West Indies A (St Lucia); March 9: First one-day international (St Lucia); March 11: Seconnd one-day international (St Lucia); March 14: Third one-day international (Barbados); March 17: Fourth one-day international (Barbados); March 19: Fifth one-day international (Barbados).