Describing the West Indies as the worst fielding team in the ongoing CWC qualifiers in Zimbabwe, Coach Darren Sammy believes the team’s consecutive losses to the hosts and the Netherlands, is indicative of the true state of West Indies cricket.
The frustrated head coach was speaking after the West Indies lost to the Netherlands in a super over on Monday which leaves their chances of qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup in India hanging by a thread.
Having made 374-6, the West Indies were unable to successfully restrict the Dutch side from getting to 374-9 for a tie and triggering a super over. Logan van Beek, who scored 28 from 14 balls to get his side to the super over than smashed three sixes and three fours while scoring 30 runs off Jason Holder’s over.
He then took two wickets and conceded eight runs as the West Indies failed miserably in attempting to overhaul, the record-setting 30-run over by the Netherlands.
Sammy said afterwards, that the West Indies were on track for a possible victory but subsequently lost the plot.
“[At the] halfway stage, 374 on the board, I thought the batters did excellently but again it shows you where we are as a team. We were kind of poor tactically. We didn’t stick to the plans as long as possible and we just thought because we had 375 on the board that we should win, but cricket is not played like this,” he said.
“And it’s a lesson for us that you can’t take any game of cricket for granted.”
The head coach who was appointed just last month, believes his team approaching its nadir but remained optimistic about its future.
“I am a very positive thinker and I understand the journey that I have to take with this team. Sometimes you’ve got to reach rock bottom to come back up,” he said.
“I understand the challenges ahead and I also understand that things will not change overnight and it’s a true reflection of where our cricket is at the moment and we have a lot of work to do.”
The loss to the Netherlands means the West Indies, two-time champions, now face the near impossible task of qualifying for the World Cup. They must now win all their Super Six matches while hoping that Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka lose two of theirs and that the Netherlands lose at least one of theirs in order to qualify.