BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Head coach Ottis Gibson says West Indies’ win over New Zealand in the recent one-day series is one to “cherish” but said his side was already looking ahead to the two-Test series starting later this month.
West Indies beat New Zealand by 24 runs last Saturday to take a winning 3-1 lead and closed out the five-match series on Monday with a smart 20-run victory.
For the hosts, it was their first win over a top eight International Cricket Council side in four years.
“In England – where we had pretty much the same side – we didn’t do that well and questions were asked. It was really good to see how the guys have returned home and answered those questions with some good performances,” said Gibson.
“When we win we have to cherish it … this is something to cherish. The key is that guys handled the pressure very well in this series, much better than we have done in the past, so that was really good to see.
“We got performances from all over the team. Almost everyone put his hand up and put in a strong performance when it was required. As a team we are happy with the series results and we look to take the momentum on from here.”
West Indies went winless on their recent two-month tour of England, losing the three-Test and one-day series by 0-2 margins, while also going down in the one-off Twenty20 International.
They broke out of the slump when they swept both T20Is in Florida late last month, victories that set the tone for the ODI campaign.
“Winning takes a lot of hard work and a lot of effort. A lot of commitment from everyone concerned has gone into this success, and as a team we are happy to have won both the T20 and ODI Series against the New Zealanders,” Gibson said.
West Indies will now take on the Black Caps in a two-Test series starting in Antigua in eight days time.
And Gibson said while he expected New Zealand to hit back, he also felt West Indies had the ability to lift themselves even further.
“On a tour if you are the opposition and you lost a T20 Series and an ODI Series you would be down on yourself, but they (New Zealand) have some players coming in and they will expect a boost,” Gibson pointed out.
“We will also have some players coming into our team, the likes of Shiv Chanderpaul, and we all know what he is capable of.
“Every new format requires new thinking, so we will get together in Antigua next week and plan for how we will go about winning the Test series as well.”
