BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) — West Indies Under-19 Head Coach Floyd Reifer has praised the teenage squad for the character they displayed in their second match of the ICC Under-19 World Cup, following an opening defeat, and said he wanted to see them improve even more when they face Sri Lanka on Friday.
He said the team played a good day of cricket here on Monday, beating Scotland by seven wickets in their second game of the tournament at Warner Park.
West Indies lost their opening match to Australia in Guyana last Friday, and the hosts hit back strongly, bundling out the Scots for a mere 95 in the 36th over.
“I think coming out of the first game's defeat, the young lads showed a lot of character in bouncing back from that first defeat against Australia. Obviously, there would have been a lot of nerves going into that game; only if we had batted a bit better in that game we could have won that game also. Coming into the second game, we showed some good character…we played a good game of cricket,” Reifer said.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The West Indies Twenty20 International (T20I) squad that will face England in the first Betway Series starting this weekend is expected to perform more creditably than the T20 World Cup team once players execute according to the game plan.
Speaking on Tuesday at the first press conference ahead of the five-match series at Kensington Oval, Head Coach Phil Simmons said it may not be as difficult to overcome England as some may think.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) selectors made changes to the T20 squad, including some uncapped players in the team, following the poor performance at the ICC T20 World Cup late last year.
“In Pakistan, yes we lost the three games but there was a lot more energy, a lot more enthusiasm and that's the group that's coming into this series here against England,” he told journalists.
West Indies opener, Brandon King, is looking to keep things simple on his return to international cricket after recently returning to the team.
King was named as part of the Windies T20 squad who will play against England in the upcoming five-match series. The batsman looked in solid form after returning to the team against Pakistan last month, after more than a year away from the team. He scored 111 runs in three matches, with an average of 37 and a high score of 67.
“For me mentally, I play my best cricket when I am keeping things simple out there while I am batting. I just try and play the situation as it is and that has really helped me to do better out there,” King said of his form since returning to the team.
Following West Indies’ historic defeat to Ireland in their three-match One-Day International series, Caribbean cricket commentator and analyst, Fazeer Mohammed says it’s been a long time coming, but simply rotating players will not lift WINDIES out of this new low.
Speaking on the SportsMax Zone, earlier this week, the Trinidadian stated:
“This batting problem has been going on for more than two years. Maybe it looks worse now that we’ve actually lost a bilateral series to Ireland, given the fact that 3 years ago, ahead of the 2019 World Cup, we breezed past Ireland in three ODIs.”
West Indies senior Men’s head coach Phil Simmons says players must be more aware of situations ahead of the Betway T20 International Series against England.
“Each game has a situation. Every ball is a situation in the game, and we’ve got to be able to assess that situation and know how we have to play in that game. If you’re 20-3 you play differently than if you’re 40-0. These are the little situations that we need to highlight and win and that will take us to winning the game,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Simmons also explained that the return of the West Indies to the pinnacle of world cricket will only come with a focus on development at all levels.
