West Indies coach Phil Simmons has apologized for the behavior of his players who breached New Zealand’s Covid-19 safety protocols and caused the team to be stripped of exemptions that had allowed to train while in isolation.

Simmons also confirmed that the players who transgressed would be sanctioned internally.

Earlier this week, the New Zealand Health Ministry, revealed that several West Indies players repeatedly ran afoul of the restrictions imposed while the team was in isolation in Christchurch. The incidents, they said, were captured on closed-circuit television and also reported by staff at the facility where the team is being housed.

The incident has proven to be an embarrassment for CWI, whose CEO Johnny Grave who said he was disappointment.

Simmons was contrite.

"I have to apologise to the New Zealand public and the government who have allowed us to come here. It's embarrassing from our point of view," Simmons told New Zealand media, explaining that the incident has now robbed the team of valuable training time.

"We were just getting to the levels that we would normally start at, but coming from no cricket, we had to start slower. Hopefully everybody tests negative and then we can move to Queenstown and ramp it up as quickly as possible because later in the week we have a training game," Simmons said.

The West Indies have a practice match in Queenstown from November 20, a week before the first T20 International on November 27.