West Indies head coach Daren Sammy is touting his side’s chances against New Zealand in the upcoming Test series. The two-game encounter will begin at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on December 1, and Sammy believes that his team has enough firepower to at least compete against the Kiwis.
The Men in Maroon enter the series having lost both white-ball series, the five-match T20 International and the three-match One Day International, despite several competitive performances. Sammy noted that, notwithstanding the defeats, the Caribbean unit showcased several commendable improvements that can be built on.
“We created so many opportunities to win. When I look at the seven games that were played, we were in contention to win five of them. We let it slip away, but credit must go to New Zealand, how they’ve made home a fortress. I was quite impressed with the positives that we had coming out of that series.
“In the T20 series, in the ODI series, I don’t think the result reflected on how we played. Being able to survive and challenge the new ball, with both bat and ball, and being able to make critical decisions or better decisions under pressure. These are things that we talk about, you know, and we have our [key performance indicators] in the test arena.”
When asked what is needed for his team to deliver a victory, Sammy noted:
“We’ve not won here since 1995. So we have a challenge on our hands. But I was just seeing these guys prepare. The intensity of training today is something that we’ve spoken about, and to see the immediate reaction to the things that we want to see. The net practice session was quite good. So I’m quite happy with the way the preparation is going.
“I think the key is first in order to win, you must be able to compete, and we have to compete,” he said. “I think the mindset that we have here and what we’re trying to create is good, and it boils down to execution. The word I’ve been using from my career, my playing days, my captaincy days, you execute well here in New Zealand. One thing we’ve shown over here, we challenge them.”
The West Indies will be without the two Josephs, Alzzari and Shamar, ahead of this series. Sammy admitted that this has hindered his team’s firepower but added that the team has “some young blood eager to go” in the likes of Jayden Seales and Ojay Shields.
