The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies team have thanked fans for the amazing support during the team’s campaign at the ICC World T20 Tournament. The Windies bowed out on Tuesday night when they lost to Australia in their final Super Eight match at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia.
Captain Chris Gayle said the support was “brilliant” and apologized on behalf of his players for not making the final four. He promised the team will bounce and give the fans something to cheer about in the upcoming Digicel Series against South Africa.
“The turnout was brilliant and I must commend them (the fans) for that. The support was very good and I must say thanks to all the fans. It’s just unfortunate that we didn’t carry on to the semis. Even the fans that were not in the countries where we played sent messages to wish us all the best. We could not ask for more from our fans. There are no excuses and I apologise to the fans for our display in this World Cup but we have to hold our heads high,” Gayle said.
“It’s been a while since we saw support like that. We saw fans dancing, singing, dressed up in costumes and even some with their pots and spoons. It was tremendous. We worked really hard and hopefully in the series coming up (against South Africa) we can give you something to smile about. We wanted it badly. The commitment is always there, even today in the outfield with the players diving around.”
Throughout the tournament the fans answered the call to “Bring It” with and at all the matches in Guyana, Barbados and St Lucia the Windies played in front capacity crowd who displayed their passion for West Indies cricket.
Dr Ernest Hilaire, CEO of the WICB, also applauded the fans for their support and said T20 cricket is well and truly part of the landscape of West Indies cricket.
“The fans came out and showed their love for the West Indies team and West Indies cricket and this was great to see. It is obvious that all across the region people still have the game in their hearts. The results did not all go according to plan and we are sorry for that, but it was great to see Caribbean people enjoying themselves in the way we know best, and celebrating the game of cricket. We are working towards building a strong West Indies team and I urge the fans to continue to ‘rally round the West Indies’. It won’t happen overnight, there is long road to travel to restore our glory and can only be done with the support of all fans.”