BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC-West Indies head coach Otis Gibson says the Caribbean cricketers will arrive in England for the Champions Trophy full of confidence on the strength of their triumph at the ICC T20 tournament last year.
Gibson, playing down suggestions that the Windies could be under pressure to perform, says the success in Sri Lanka late last year, could instead provide a fillip.
The Windies head coach was speaking at a news conference in Bridgetown yesterday afternoon as the squad prepared to leave the region for the June 6-23 tournament in England and Wales.
“Winning major events give the confidence,” Gibson told reporters.
“There will be some pressure of course but the fact that we have won the last major event means that we get confidence from it also and there is a lot of belief amongst the player”.
The players were England bound after wrapping up a five-day training camp in Barbados, held without several members of the squad due to their commitments to the Indian Premier League which climaxes on Sunday.
West Indies are drawn in Group B alongside reigning World champions India, Pakistan and South Africa.
“So we get there, we get ourselves together and we look forward to the challenge of getting out of the group…it’s a tough group and the next group is also a tough group,” said Gibson.
“Getting out of the group is our first challenge and getting to the quarter finals and semi-finals and then our aim then is to be playing on the 23rd in the finals. I think we have a pretty good record in finals”.
Gibson says the full Windies squad will be together by Tuesday including players from the IPL such as Captain Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Chris Gayle, Ravi Rampaul, and Sunil Narine.
West Indies hold another training camp in Wales before taking on Australia and Sri Lanka in official warm-up fixtures.
“It is who get settled quickly enough or who get used to the conditions quickly enough. That can then have a major say as well and that’s what our aim is ..to get there and get ourselves acclimatized as quickly as possible,”Gibson said.
“It is all about gelling as quickly as we can to ensure that when the main event comes on the 7th that we are ready for them”.
The regional side is anticipating strong support from England’s West Indian community in their bid to recapture the title they won in the 2004 edition which was also played in England.
“I think we have seen more and more people coming out to support the team and we know that we will get a lot of support in England anyway,” said said.
“So if we can hit the ground running and start with a couple of wins, then I am sure that the massive support that we get in England will follow us around the tournament”.
