Langer praises squad's tight bond

Caretaker coach Justin Langer says the camaraderie among Australia's players will hold them in good stead as they prepare for sterner tests than the one they got in their opening tri-series win against the West Indies.

There's been an unfamiliar feel to Australia's preparations for this Qantas Tour of the West Indies, a standalone one-day series that will also take in St Kitts and Barbados over the next few weeks.

Most members of the squad enjoyed three full days of relaxation in New York City before continuing the long journey to Guyana, located on the North Atlantic coast of the South American mainland.

The time spent in the US was the first occasion the squad had been together since the ICC World T20 in March, with some players coming straight from the IPL in India and others making the longer journey from Australia.

Quick single: Plenty to learn for aspiring coach Harris

In addition to the varying build-ups of the players for this series, the presence of several new faces in the coaching staff - including Langer, former England player Graeme Hick and WA bowling coach Adam Griffith - meant there were plenty of unknowns going into their opening match of the series on Monday.

The decision to spend some time in New York also reduced the opportunities for some match practice in West Indian conditions before the series began.

Langer admitted the unusual preparation had him nervous ahead of their clash with the Windies, which the tourists won comfortably by six wickets with almost 25 overs to spare.

"I was nervous, particularly about some of those big fast bowlers coming back," Langer said after his first win as Australia's head coach.

"They're all fit and they've got some bowling under their belts, but not match practice. I always get nervous when we don't have match practice.

"Having said that, I thought one of our main themes was being able to adapt. We've got a different coaching staff, we're in a different country, we're playing on different wickets.

"Our main theme today was adapting to the conditions and we did that very well."

Quick single: Lyon rejoices at slow bowling cartel

The low-profile nature of the series and the long weekend spent in New York may have contributed to a relaxed feeling in the touring party since they arrived here in Guyana's capital Georgetown a week ago.

That an on-camera interview with off-spinner Nathan Lyon this week was hijacked on two separate occasions by his teammates provided a brief glimpse into the mood of the camp.

Langer said the spirit in the group can only be a good thing ahead of the matches to come, starting with their showdown against South Africa on Wednesday morning (AEST).

"What I feel is it's a fantastic team of young men," Langer said.

"There's no trouble makers. They're all really good blokes. They all work hard, they're all hungry.

"We had two things (to focus on before the match against the West Indies); the first was to adapt and the second was to look after each other.

"We all get on well, we've got good camaraderie and they're really good people.

"We adapted well and looking after each other is a lot easier - I always maintain - when you have that good camaraderie in the group. It's like the glue that keeps things together when you're under pressure.

"I like coming into a team that gets on well and everyone's good mates."

Quick single: Head primed for another 'Dizzy' spell

Lyon, the man-of-the-match in the win over the Windies, is essentially in a two-way battle with legspinner Adam Zampa for the role of the ODI team's No.1 slow bowler for the rest of the series.

Given the nature of the surface at Guyana's Providence Stadium, both Lyon and Zampa are expected to lead a spin-heavy attack again on Wednesday, but it's likely one of the spinners will drop out of the side when the series moves to St Kitts on Thursday.

Despite the competition for spots, Lyon said himself, Zampa and off-spinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell have developed a tight bond on tour.

"I think that's one of our biggest weapons; our communication," Lyon said after Australia's spin trio claimed 7-58 between them against the Windies.

"We're all really good mates, we all want to see each other do well.

"If we can have that open communication with each other and try and help each other better the team and get the right result for Australia, we're heading in the right direction."