St John’s, Antigua – The Windward Islands believe they have what is required to win the upcoming West Indies Cricket Board’s Caribbean T20 tournament. The Windwards looked good in their two warm-up matches against the Leeward Islands earlier this week and are confident as they go into the big event.
Darren Sammy will lead Windward Islands in the Caribbean T20 Tournament . Photo by Shiek Mohamed
The Windwards will play in the tournament-opener against Combined Campuses & Colleges at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground on Monday at 4 pm (3 pm Jamaica Time). Captain Darren Sammy believes his men can do the job and they are focussed on winning and advancing to the Champions League later this year.
“This is it! This is an opportunity for us … a huge opportunity. Everyone is fit and we are ready to go,” he said. “We arrived in Antigua early because we wanted to get things right and get fully prepared. We did not have a lot of preparation during the Christmas period so we came early to get ready.
“We know we have to play hard and be consistent to win. We can’t take anything for granted. We have to be fully focussed when we go onto the field on Monday. In Twenty20 cricket things happen quickly and you have to be a quick thinker. If you blink and lapse at any stage, you could make a mistake and it could put you out of the match and even out of the tournament.”
Sammy also spoke about the opportunities for cricket in the sub-region if his team qualified for the Champions League.
“There is a massive incentive to win the tournament. It could do wonders for the players and it would be a major boost for the Windward Islands Cricket Board. It would go a long way in helping the present crop of Windward Islands cricketers and the next generation to come. The task ahead is not easy but as a team we can go far … we can go all the way.”
SQUAD: Darren Sammy (captain), Devon Smith (vice captain), Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Lyndon James, Lyndon Lawrence, Keddy Lesporis, Gary Mathurin, Mervin Matthew, Nelon Pascal, Kenroy Peters, Liam Sebastien, Kerron Cottoy, Tyrone Theophile.
Group A: Guyana, Jamaica, Combined Campuses & Colleges, Windward Islands & Somerset
Group B: Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago, Leeward Islands, Canada, Hampshire