Nottingham, United Kingdom: West Indies coach Stuart Law is looking to the remainder of the one-day international series against England to help him build a settled team ahead of next year’s World Cup qualifying tournament.
Defeat in the first ODI at Old Trafford on Tuesday ended West Indies’ hopes of gaining direct entry to the 2019 World Cup in Britain.
Instead the two-time champions will now have to come through a qualifying tournament, set to take place in Zimbabwe early next year, if they are to secure a spot in the business end of the showpiece 50-over event. West Indies reached the first three World Cup finals, all staged in England, winning the inaugural edition in 1975 and repeating that achievement in 1979 before suffering a shock defeat by India at Lord’s in the climax of the 1983 edition.
But this year saw the Caribbean side fail to qualify for the elite Champions Trophy one-day tournament as they were outside the world’s top eight 50-over teams.
So it was no surprise when West Indies missed out on an automatic place at the World Cup.
Following a washed-out second ODI at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge on Thursday, Law’s men only have three more matches in England — starting with Sunday’s fixture in Bristol — and a three-match ODI series in New Zealand scheduled before the qualifiers.
“Our plan is to go to Zimbabwe next year with a settled team, a team where everyone knows their roles and what they want to achieve,” Law told reporters at Trent Bridge. — AFP
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