BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Assistant coach Roddy Estwick has hailed the work ethic of the West Indies squad during the ongoing training camp.
The Caribbean side are preparing for the Tri-Nations Series in Ireland involving Bangladesh starting next week, and are also intensifying their planning for the ICC World Cup which bowls off May 30 in England.
“They’ve been tremendous – we can’t fault them. They’ve really worked hard and the senior players are stepping up,” said Estwick, recently recalled to the coaching staff following a management overhaul by Cricket West Indies.
“This morning Darren Bravo was saying we’re pushing but we can push a little bit more, we can do a lot more, we can get better and if you have a fault, find a coach and work on it. When somebody like that who’s played a hundred One-Day Internationals has something to say, that does help lift the mood in the camp as well.”
Estwick has been alongside new interim head coach, Floyd Reifer, fast bowling coach Corey Collymore and fielding coach Rayon Griffith, as the squad has been put through their paces.
The former Barbados seamer said there were several areas which had needed attention, and players had gone about addressing them with itensity.
“Floyd has obviously identified some areas we need to really improve on and we’ve been really working on them,” Estwick explained.
“We want to improve the death bowling and also the fielding – the standard must improve so every morning we’re doing a lot of fielding. [We’re also working on] rotating the spin in the middle overs so those are areas he has set and those are areas we’ve been really trying to work on.
“Obviously Ireland is going to be a different challenge because the pitches are going to be a lot slower and greener but we’re ready for that and preparing towards that as well.”
West Indies take on Ireland and Bangladesh from May 3-17 in what will be their final series before they open their World Cup campaign.
And even though they have been identified as one of the outsiders to win the May 30 to July 14 tournament, Estwick urged caution in the side’s approach.
“This is the World Cup. I think that what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to take one game at a time. You can’t get ahead of yourself and say you’re going to win the World Cup,” he stressed.
“If you’re in the tournament in July, then I know we’ve got a good chance so that’s going to be our target – take one game at a time, plan properly, make sure that whatever we’re saying to players is clear and precise so the players can go out and execute, stick together as a unit and enjoy whatever we’re doing.”
