MANCHESTER, England, CMC – West Indies assistant coach Roddy Estwick has urged the struggling side to remain united in the face of a difficult World Cup campaign, warning it was not the time to “look for excuses”, ahead of their key clash with New Zealand here Saturday.
The Caribbean side slumped to a devastating seven-wicket defeat to Bangladesh on Monday, leaving them seventh in the 10-team table on three points and with a single win in five outings.
And with another defeat to the Black Caps all but likely to crush the Windies’ hopes of a top four place, Estwick said it was now time for the side to display their mettle and take responsibility.
“We can stand here, saying ‘if this’ and ‘if that’ – we didn’t play well, we’ve lost the cricket game and that’s that,” Estiwick said of the defeat to Bangladesh.
“We’ve got to come back stronger. We’ve still got four games left in the tournament and we can’t point fingers or apportion blame to anyone.
“We have to stick together; that’s how good teams pull through. We’ve got to stop looking for excuses and start finding solutions.”
West Indies handed Bangladesh a target a challenging target of 322 but the Tigers produced their highest ever successful run chase in One-Day Internationals to win with 51 balls remaining.
They were guided by Shakib-al-Hasab’s unbeaten 124 and Litos Das’s unbeaten 94, the pair posting a record unbroken fourth wicket stand of 189 to see their side home comfortably.
Estwick said the Windies’ total had been well short of a really competitive one, especially considering the size of Somerset County Ground.
“If you look at it, I thought we were 60 runs short on that pitch and on that size field. We then didn’t take the opportunities that came our way,” he pointed out.
“We were always behind Bangladesh once they got through to 70 for one. The big players didn’t kick on but saying that, we made 321 runs and should have been able to defend that.”
West Indies relied on five quicks for the contest after overlooking frontline spinner Ashley Nurse. However, the tactics of using aggressive short-pitched bowling, which was successful against Pakistan and Australia, failed to produce results this time around as Bangladesh revelled on a good batting strip.
While Estwick stood by the decision to omit a specialist spinner, he was also quick to praise Bangladesh who have now beaten West Indies eight times in their last 10 ODI meetings.
“Four years ago, everyone was saying how exciting and refreshing West Indies cricket looked,” the former Barbados fast bowler contended.
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If we’d bowled spin against Bangladesh, everyone would have said that we should have stuck to our strengths. Four games down the road, it’s the worst tactic in the world.
“Give Bangladesh credit. They played well and they’re an improving side. They’ve played us now five times in the recent past and have beaten us every time. We just have to go away and put our heads together and find a solution.
“We’re not down and out yet. We’re going to fight and come back harder.”
