By Neto Baptiste
Former West Indies fast bowler and bowling coach for the successful squad at the 2016 T20 World Cup held in India, Sir Curtly Ambrose, is urging the current team to play smart and consistent cricket throughout the ongoing tournament being jointly hosted by the USA and the West Indies.
His advice comes amidst the longstanding notion and reputation of the regional squad being power-hitters and has the tendency to swing for the boundary lines while ignoring the often crucial singles and twos.
“I’ve always believed that if selectors or a captain, picking a final 11 and it’s very easy to pick, then you don’t have a very good team. But once you have a team of 15 or 16 players and it gives you headache to finalise the starting 11 then you have a great team, which means that any 11 going out there is good enough to get the job done,” he said.
“I hope these guys are listening because I want them to remember that not because it’s T20 that it means they have to try and hit every delivery for a six or a four. We have to get away from that notion because ones and twos are very important as well. We have naturally talented players who can hit boundaries and sixes at will, but they have to realise that if the boundaries are not coming that ones and twos are just as effective,” the legendary fast bowler said.
West Indies won their Group C opener against Papua New Guinea by five wickets on Sunday in Guyana, successfully chasing 136 for victory at Providence.
Sir Curtly, who claimed 405 wickets in 98 Tests and another 225 in 176 ODIs, compared the current squad to the successful 2016 team, pointing to a number of positive similarities.
“The team we have now is very similar minus those guys so we still have a dangerous team and I believe that as long as the players play smart cricket and play consistently good cricket that we have a very good chance to be the first team to win the T20 World Cup three times and the first and the first team to win on home soil so there is a lot to play for,” he said.
West Indies will next play on June 8 when they face Uganda also at Providence in Guyana.
