The West Indies team left the Caribbean on Wednesday to London, en route to their final destination in Malaysia, and, according to reports from the team camp, the players are keen on playing together again as one unit.

"Despite a long flight from London the players were in very good spirits. The team was warmly welcomed to Malaysia by several local cricketing officials and have been immediately impressed with the hospitality," Media Officer of the West Indies Cricket Team, Imran Khan, told Caribbean Net News on Saturday.

"Most of the players are coming off playing cricket at various levels so they are quite keen to get back together as a unit and build on the momentum they picked up while winning 4-1 against India in the Caribbean," Khan added.

In the meantime, captain Brian Lara said the team is looking to use what is expected to be a challenging series as a preparation for the defence of the ICC Champions Trophy, which takes place in India in October.

"We have got four games, maybe five if we reach the final in the three-nation series, but it is all going to be a lead-up to winning the ICC Champions Trophy - the one major trophy that we have won in recent years," Lara said.

Also sharing Lara's thoughts was head coach Bennett King, who said the regional side must use this limited over series as a foundation for the preliminary round of the ICC tournament, noting that playing with the best is always a good preparation for a team getting ready for a major competition.

"This Tri Series is a good lead in to the ICC Champions Trophy preliminary round, the quality of opposition is the strongest in the world so it is a good test against the best," King said.

The team is currently still in the settling-in mood, but is scheduled for its first practice session on Sunday morning at 10am.