The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Tough road ahead, but hope beckons for WI cricket

Mon, Feb 27, '17

by JAMAICA OBSERVER EDITORAL

Commentary

To the chagrin of those who still support West Indies cricket, the regional team will not be part of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament this summer in England.

The champions of 2004 were not good enough in One Day International (ODI) cricket to make the eight-team cut under the ICC’s points ranking system.

Currently ninth in the ODI rankings, West Indies are also in danger of not qualifying automatically for the ODI World Cup in England and Wales in 2019. Should the West Indies be out of the eight-team frame come the cut-off date later this year, they will have to compete with traditional lesser nations for a place in the 10-team tournament.

So, West Indies will have to purposefully set about winning ODI games over the next few months in order to be sure of a spot at the 2019 Cricket World Cup. For that reason, the three-match ODI series starting this week against England in the Caribbean is of great importance.