PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Head coach Ottis Gibson said Tuesday his battered West Indies were trying earnestly to put the nightmarish one-day series behind them as they prepared for the three-Test series against South Africa starting here tomorrow.
The regional squad suffered a humiliating 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the Proteas last week, the third successive time they had been drubbed by the South Africans in a five-match series.
Speaking to the media prior to a training session at the Queen’s Park Oval, Gibson said the squad was continuing to work hard in order to reverse their slumping fortunes.
“We have some new faces in the squad and we are trying to move on as quickly as possible,” the former West Indies fast bowler said.
“We might have lost the one day series 5-0 and the T20s 2-0 but the team is progressing. The players are working hard and we are building to something good.”
Gibson, who took charge of the squad following the tour of Australia in February, said despite the string of defeats the mood in the camp had remained upbeat.
He pointed out that the team was on the verge of emerging from their slump, judging from the margin of results in the one-day series.
“The guys all know that we are building to something and even if we are losing, they know that better days are ahead,” Gibson noted.
“If you look at the seven games we have played so far against South Africa in this series, we were close to winning four of the games.
“One has to remember that because of not winning games, this team is not a confident one and they are not strong enough to go all the way. It will take time but the important thing is that the players all see improvements and they are willing to work hard.”
West Indies will need a dramatic turnaround if they are to reverse their losing trend in the Test series. They have won just two of their last 16 Tests against the Proteas, with the visitors taking nine of them and five drawn.
When they last met in the 2007-08 series, the Windies produced a shocker when they won the first Test at Port Elizabeth but they lost heavily in Cape Town and Durban to surrender the series.
Yesterday, the West Indies squad was kept indoors for most of their training session as persistent rain disrupted their workout at the venue.
