West Indies bowling coach Roddy Estwick has urged the players to raise their game for the series against New Zealand set to run from November 27 to December 15.
The West Indies have travelled with two squads that will play three T20 Internationals and two Test matches during the three-week tour.
The contingent that arrived in Auckland on Thursday travelled to Christchurch where they will be in quarantine before they begin preparing for the series against the Black Caps and Estwick believes the players need to seize the moment.
“I think we’ve got to win series now. We win the odd Test match – you can look at all the teams we’ve played in the last two years – we’ve won one Test match, but we haven’t won the series,” Estwick said.
“I think it’s big for us now that we start winning series. If we want to move up, we’ve got to win series. It’s important that we put two or three performances together, not one good performance and we tend to fade away. We’ve got to win series and there’s no doubt about that, and we’ve got to start here in New Zealand by trying to win this series by playing good, positive, hard disciplined cricket.”
Notwithstanding, the coach is aware of how difficult it will be playing against New Zealand on home soil.
“New Zealand is a very, very difficult side playing at home. We’ve got to be up and we’ve got to execute properly. We’ve got to sit down, and we’ve got to plan,” he said.
“We know what it was like last time and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready because nobody goes to New Zealand and wins easily. You’ve got to be prepared to scrap. Sometimes they can be very patient and you’ve got to match that patience as well. We’ve got to leave no stone unturned to make sure we can combat New Zealand.”
Six reserve players have traveled with the Test squad to prepare and ensure replacements are available in case of any injury and, along with other members of the T20I squad, will form an ‘A’ Team to play two four-day matches concurrently with the Test team.
All members of the squads passed first health test in on arrival and officials were very impressed and highly complimentary with the adherence to protocols.