West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is keen to see long term improvements geared at the next T20 World Cup in October.
Simmons fielded questions from the media yesterday on the heels of his team assuming a 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series against number-one ranked side, England.
“I think winning series, winning tournaments and just winning on a whole is a great thing for any team so it is something we are happy with so for me at this point it is about building back that team because at the end of the day, October is another T20 World Cup,” said Simmons in response to the question of his team winning the current series.
Simmons’ drive is fuelled by the abysmal performance at the previous World Cup last year and West Indies dipping to seventh in the T20 rankings.
“Especially with our performances in the last one, we want to get back up to where we normally are so for me, I am looking at the quality of cricket and how we are improving rather than the series win. Saturday we win the game, we win the series, yes I will be happy but I am happy all now with the way the players are taking on board how we want to play and moving forward,” Simmons said.
The former West Indies all-rounder reckoned that there are already signs of a change in the tide with Rovman Powell exemplifying what has been preached behind the scenes.
“I think it was a brilliant innings, he said.
“I think from the start the way he assessed the whole situation and how he needed to play at the beginning are things we have been talking about as a group and looking forward to seeing players bringing into fruition in a match just shows we are moving in a right direction, the players are taking on board what we are putting out there, how we are changing up things and it was a brilliant innings,” he opined.
Powell, Wednesday, became the third West Indian to score an international century in the format.
Judging from the performance in this series, Simmons believes several areas have been improved upon. These areas include running between the wickets, situation assessment, approach to batting, energy in the field and sticking to the game plan for longer periods.
