‘Everything takes time’ – Windies coach Simmons insists ODI team remains work in progress

By Sports Desk July 28, 2022

West Indies coach Phil Simmons has backed the One Day International (ODI) team to eventually pull things together after a number of discouraging recent results.

The ODI format has been the team’s least productive over the last few years, having won just 9 of 51 series played in the last 10 years, which amounts to a 17 percent win rate.  In the last three consecutive series, the regional team has failed to win a game after being swept aside 3-0 by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.

In three of the last four matches against Bangladesh and then India, however, the team at least managed to put in strong batting performances despite losing the match.

“The first two games we batted the 50 overs and looked like we understood what batting 50 overs was about.  I think that’s a step forward and we will just have to keep trying to move forward with that,” Simmons told members of the media on Wednesday.

“The bowlers have been doing it in a few games and not the batsmen.  Now it’s turned around.  So, we’ve got to get everything together.  The one plus is that the fielding keeps getting better and better, so we have to put everything together,” he added.

“Everything takes time, the guys have been playing together more and more and we are having a squad play together more and more.  That’s what happened with the Test team, the guys played together for a while and now we are seeing the fruits of that.  Let’s see what happens with the ODI team.”

 

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    Powell’s sentiments served as a rallying cry of sorts as they stare down a must-win situation in the third encounter at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Thursday to keep the series alive.

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    “The people of St Lucia always come out to support us, which is also good, and so we're looking forward to the next three games. Hopefully they can come out and support us, and we can deliver some good cricket,” he added.

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    “If you should look at our bowling department, we really needed him in those games. So, it's important for him to come and hit the straps and hit the ground running. As a bowling group, we have areas where we need to control the power play because the middle overs generally take care of themselves, and he will come to bowl some of those overs in the backend,” he shared.