KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Jerome Taylor feels West Indies can be competitive at the World Cup, which opens on February 19 and is co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

But the Jamaica and West Indies fast bowler believes the key to Darren Sammy’s side progressing will be the way the bowlers adapt to the conditions.

Jerome Taylor

“I think our most senior bowler on the tour will be Dwayne Bravo,” Taylor told RJR Sports. “Our bowling, on the slow surfaces will depend on how quickly our young fast bowlers and even our spinners can adapt to what happen on that sort of surface.”

Taylor noted that the three host venues are known for their flat pitches, and reckoned that the West Indies attack will extract little or nothing from those kinds of surfaces. “This is where their skills as bowlers will be tested,” he said. “Their variations will have to come into play.

“I think that if our quicker bowlers try to fight the surfaces, [West Indies] might run into trouble, and that is going to be the challenge for our bowling unit.”

Taylor was not chosen in the World Cup squad, following an injury lay-off. He returned to serious competition last month for the Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in Antigua and Barbados.

He was a member of the Jamaica attack, which bowled their side to a 165-run victory over Guyana in the opening round of the WICB Regional first-class championship.

West Indies will play South Africa on February 24 in Delhi in their opening match in the World Cup.