ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Cricket West Indies president, Dave Cameron said yesterday planning would begin immediately towards ensuring the regional side won next year’s World Cup in England.
The Jason Holder-led unit defeated Scotland by five runs under the DLS method in their final Super Six match of the ICC World Cup qualifiers, to secure one of the two remaining spots for the global showpiece.
“Every step we make from this point onwards must be to put the building blocks in place for us to be able to win the World Cup for a third time, next year,” Cameron said.
“There would be no better place to win the World Cup than in England. We won the first two editions of the World Cup when they hosted it, and there is a strong and special connection in the game between there and the Caribbean.”
He added: “Right now, I know there are a lot of Windies cricket fans in England and, indeed, the Caribbean keen on making plans to attend the World Cup matches and give the team their full support.
“We want the players to use that knowledge and be inspired to perform to greater heights and use all of the opportunities provided to them over the next year to gear themselves towards a bigger and more rewarding prize – winning the World Cup.”
West Indies entered yesterday’s contest at Harare Sports Club knowing that victory would qualify them for the showpiece, but their hopes appeared diminished when they were knocked over for 198.
Defending the small total, however, the Windies quickly turned the screws on the Scots, reducing them to 25 for three and even though they staged a recovery, the innings lay at 125 for five in the 36th over and behind the DLS par score of 130 when rain ended the match prematurely.
Cameron hailed the effort of the side and the Windies fans which had backed the team from the outset.
“Qualification for the World Cup is great news for Windies Cricket, and on behalf of the directors, management and staff of CWI, we want to applaud them for their efforts and thank our fans globally, who continue to stand by us,” the Jamaican continued.
“We are grateful to every player that made the sacrifice and committed himself to this task of ensuring qualification under the leadership of Jason Holder, as well as the team management unit under Stuart Law, and their collective hard work over the last few weeks to ensure that this goal was achieved.”
West Indies were forced into the qualifiers after finding themselves outside the top eight in the ICC one-day rankings at the qualification cut-off date of September 30 last year.
The Caribbean side boasts a proud history in the World Cup, winning the first two editions in 1975 and 1979 under the legendary Clive Lloyd and reaching the final of the 1983 tournament.
