PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Cricket West Indies president, Dave Cameron says the Caribbean side are using the ICC World Cup qualifiers in Zimbabwe to plot their capture of the showpiece in England next year.
West Indies won all four preliminary matches to reach the Super Sixes, second round of the competition but subsequently went down to Afghanistan last Thursday.
Speaking earlier in the week, Cameron said the Windies plans had been reflected in the squad composition.
“In going to the tournament, we’ve been planning on how to win the World Cup, not just qualify,” he told reporters here.
“That’s the reason we took certain players to ensure that we have the quality and we’re [giving] some players experience to be able to win the World Cup.”
Veterans Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels were included for the campaign but selectors failed in their attempts to have a larger complement of experienced players, as Kieron Pollard, Darren Bravo, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell all opted out.
Despite entering the Super Sixes with four points – the most by any team – the Afghanistan defeat saw West Indies slip to third, with hosts Zimbabwe topping the tables with five points, only ahead of second placed Scotland courtesy of a superior net run rate.
The top two teams following the Super Sixes will qualify for the World Cup.
Cameron said CWI had made player performance the key requirement going forward.
“I think we need to be very clear about what we are doing,” he pointed out.
“We are about performance and we want to make that very clear across everything that we do, that if we don’t perform they are consequences. I wouldn’t go as far as to say they will be changes because I know we will qualify.”
West Indies were forced into the qualifiers for the first time in their history after they were ranked ninth in the One-Day International rankings at the September 30 cut-off date last year.
Only hosts England, along with the remaining top seven ranked sides, gained automatic qualification.
However, Cameron said the lack of financial support from both government and the corporate sector, had contributed to the decline of West Indies cricket.
“You just look at the top of the cricket rankings, the globalised nations, and that tells you everything,” he contended.
“There’s financial support, there’s corporate support – government and corporate – and that’s the reason Cricket West Indies cricket is where it’s at today. We were supported by sugar cane, bananas, bauxite and where are those industries today?”
