COLORADO SPRINGS, United States, CMC – United States plan to use the upcoming Regional Super50 to further repair damaged confidence, following the disappointment of missing out on advancing to the Dubai qualifier for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup.
In the Americas qualifying tournament last August, the US suffered a massive upset when they finished third – outside of the qualifying spots – as winners Canada and hosts Bermuda advanced to the ongoing qualifiers in Dubai.
Down to compete in the November 6 to December 1 regional domestic 50-overs tournament, the US now hope they can use the campaign to lift their spirits.
“It was a disappointment but we have had the opportunity to bounce back in the ICC CWC World League Division 2 triangular series we played last month on home soil in Fort Lauderdale,” said interim head coach James Pamment.
“We won three of the four fixtures and that was a good bounce back for us. Hopefully, the players, as a squad, have developed more belief after the planning we did leading into that tournament.
“The disappointment is hanging around a little bit that we are not part of that T20 qualifying tournament taking place in Dubai, but T20 has been parked for a little while, and we have this important tournament in the Caribbean then we have got another important tri-series in Dubai with Scotland and the United Arab Emirates and that’s our focus right now.
“I guess every time you suffer a disappointment, there’s a lot of learning to be had and we learned some lessons during that tournament in Bermuda and I am hoping the guys can show they are on the up-curve and can bounce back well.”
The US will be up against last year’s losing finalists Guyana Jaguars in Group B being hosted in Trinidad, with Windward Islands Volcanoes, West Indies Emerging Players and home side Red Force also doing battle in matches carded for Queen’s Park Oval and the Brian Lara Stadium.
Last year, the US finished bottom of their group after managing just two wins in eight outings and are hoping for an improvement this time around.
“It’s all about development, but it is also about putting ourselves in positions where we can win games and see how we can handle those situations,” Pamment expained.
“Defining success in a tournament like this is being able to see positive things from each player. Every player that is in our squad, I want to see something positive from them. I want to see them seize moments and win moments within the games.
“I want the players to be very strong in the field – they need to be extremely enthusiastic and energetic – and I will be setting a challenge for them to be the best fielding team in the tournament because that’s something we can control.
“I just want to see us put ourselves in a position to win moments, and if we win enough moments, we can win games. We will take each game as it comes. We will treat each individual team we play with respect and do our scouting, and deal with any conditions that come our way.
“For me, it’s how we adjust, so that if we don’t win the competition, it won’t be deemed a failure if we have seen some positive things from our players.”
