Sammy resigned to fact that Windies will have to go through Qualifiers

BRIDGETOWN – Following their 3-2 One Day International series loss to New Zealand, West Indies head coach Daren Sammy has accepted that the regional side will have to go through the Qualifiers to book their spot at the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The Windies men began the series 10 points behind Bangladesh for the final automatic qualifying spot, and needing to win all five of their matches to have a realistic chance of overtaking them.

But after a winning start, they were let down by their batters, which resulted in them losing the next three matches before winning the fifth and final match at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Tuesday.

With just two more remaining ODIs against India in September, it is all but guaranteed that the Windies will have to go through the World Cup Qualifiers, which will see the top four finishers assured a spot at the World Cup.

The Windies last played at the 2019 World Cup, having missed out on the 2023 event after they failed to advance out of the Qualifiers.

While no dates or venues have yet been announced by the ICC for those Qualifiers, speaking in a post-match press conference on Tuesday Sammy said he would love for them to be played in the Caribbean.

“We have no information on where and when it’s going to be. We do understand though, the qualifying method, but as to when and where [we don’t know]. I did ask the director a question on that earlier this week and he’s going to get back to me on that.

“If we have a choice, home is where the heart is. I’m pretty sure all the guys would love to play at home in Barbados, Saint Lucia or even Antigua where we do quite well, but it’s out of our hands. Actually, myself and the analyst we were checking during the game to see if there was a possibility, but it looks like we really have to go through the Qualifiers and then book our place,” Sammy said.

Speaking on the series against New Zealand, the head coach said he was not satisfied with the result.

He said the home side’s batting had let the team down for the majority of the five matches.

“No, 3-2 is not a fair result at all…before that Sri Lanka series we tried to make home our fortress, and we were on the cusp of doing that. We won the last four series in a row before Sri Lanka, and we wanted to continue winning games.

“Guyana was a challenge, but yet we started off the series quite well. I think if we reflect and look back, too many opportunities we had to win, the batting really did let us down – especially batting first. It doesn’t matter the score at home, when we’re chasing it’s just a boost of confidence for the guys and I think we really need to change that mindset…but I think 3-2, we were not looking for that result,” Sammy said.

(CMC)