ST JOHN’S – West Indies Test captain Darren Sammy and coach Ottis Gibson have hailed the team’s recent rise in the rankings of the International Cricket Council (ICC) table.
Both Sammy and Gibson have spoken about steps taken by the team to achieve their goals in Test cricket.
West Indies are now ranked fifth among Test playing nations, and ahead of Pakistan, who lost to Zimbabwe by 24 runs in the second of their two-Test series. The Pakistanis have fallen back to sixth after the drawn series.
“One of our goals has always been to be in the top five by 2015,” Sammy told the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) Media. “As a Test team, we have worked really hard in the last three years and to achieve that goal two years early is a plus for us.”
“We now have to continue working harder in order for us to keep moving forward. Massive praise must go to our head coach Ottis Gibson and his staff for creating the atmosphere where we as players can go out and work hard for each other and our fans in the Caribbean and everywhere else.
“This is a massive step in the right direction and we will continue to strive for excellence for the cause of putting West Indies cricket back on top of world cricket. The journey continues.”
Gibson, in a previous interview, had said that his side was targetting the climb into the top five at the end of their upcoming Test series against New Zealand on the road in November-December.
But they have reached the target three months ahead of schedule.
“If you look at the last six Tests we played, we won them,” he said at the time. “It’s been good progress, but I know people aren’t considering them as big wins.
“Against India, however, we can really gauge the progress. I’d never discount wins against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, though, because they are upcoming and talented, but India will be an immense challenge and we’re looking forward to it,” said Gibson.
“We were in India a couple of years ago and played good cricket, but didn’t win. Now the team dynamic is different, and with Chris Gayle back, we’ll give [them] a tougher run.
“Then, against New Zealand, we’ll be looking to move to No.5 in the Test rankings as that’s our aim. I want to put some distance between us and them, but they gave England a tough time in the Tests, so it won’t be easy.”
West Indies face India in two Tests in November before flying to New Zealand for a series of three Tests. (CMC)
