HAMILTON – Admitting the tour of New Zealand has been a strenuous one and that West Indies’ respect as a cricketing nation is on the line, vice-captain Denesh Ramdin has urged the players to rally around each other to end the tour on a high note.
“It’s difficult but [Dwayne] Bravo has been motivating us in bringing a relaxed atmosphere to the dressing room so that we play our natural Caribbean style of cricket,” Ramdin said on the eve of last night’s fifth and final One-Day International against the Black Caps.
West Indies lost the preceding three-match Test series 2-0 and surrendered a 1-0 lead to trail 1-2 in the ODI series after the second game was rained out.
“It’s tough so far but we have the belief despite not getting much success in New Zealand. Our respectability is on the line. We have a lot of cricket back in the Caribbean waiting on us so right now, we need to rally around each other.”
Ramdin also brushed aside notions that West Indies were too reliant on their recent Twenty20 success after winning the World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka in 2012, noting Test cricket was still appealing.
“We enjoy playing these long formats but just haven’t been getting the results. It’s not a dying breed of cricket as many say. These are good challenges and the ultimate for cricketers. West Indies have players who are suitable for all formats,” Ramdin asserted.
“On the state of our cricket, it is important we keep working hard at the senior, Under-15 and Under-19 levels. We have to put on a show versus England back home and then there’s the 50-over World Cup next year.
“I can see New Zealand being a dark horse as the co-host but we, as a team, will take it one step at a time, win some matches and gain confidence, especially with the T20 title defence in Bangladesh this year,” he said.
Ramdin lamented that their fundamentals such as backing up and simple catching pegged them back in the last couple of ODIs.
“Our fielding was not up to standard in the last game,” Ramdin said. “We’re usually a good fielding unit but we ended up giving away too many chances. The first 25 overs were good but in the second 25, we gave away chances and runs.”
Ramdin also mentioned the West Indies’ depleted squad which had left them short of experience as a key factor in their showing against New Zealand.
He said that the absence of Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Kemar Roach and the subsequent blows to Darren Bravo, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels and now, Ravi Rampaul, took a severe toll on the unit.
“The injuries haven’t been good for us. Now we have new guys coming in for selection. We’ll do better in the Twenty20s . . . we will be ready [but] New Zealand are clicking in all aspects of the game.” (EZS)
