This evening, West Indies’ men’s team will turn their attention to the shorter formats when the first of a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series bowls off at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne against hosts Australia.
As such, West Indies have been in preparation mode Down Under for just under a week.
Quizzed about the team’s morale, during a pre-match press conference, Captain Shai Hope revealed that the team was upbeat.
West Indies ODI Captain Shai Hope
“It was jet lag a few days ago,” Hope joked.
He continued, “You know, it’s pretty good. Everyone’s up and ready to roll. I think seeing some of these grounds here in Australia, that in itself, you just want to play cricket. So, the guys are upbeat, ready to go.”
“Like we always say in the dressing room, every game matters. It’s not necessarily about series or an opponent, we have to take every single game as a final, and it’s nice …the guys are taking to the new system and the way in which we’re trying to play our cricket. So, yeah, it’s just one game at a time and the results will take care of itself,” Hope added about the team’s mindset heading into the series.
Just a few days ago, West Indies’ Test team won their first match in Australia since 1997, a feat that has boosted the confidence of the ODI squad, says Hope.
“Ideally, we want to. As I said before this, it’s a very inspiring win that they had in the last Test and it’s great momentum for us. It’s a different format, but it would be great signs for us to continue what happened in the last Test in this ODI series,” the West Indies ODI Captain shared.
The Men in Maroon will be riding the momentum set by the Test team earlier this week
Quizzed about the inexperience of some team members, Hope noted that it was important to expose those players now, looking ahead to the 2027 World Cup.
The wicketkeeper-batsman shared, “I think it’s great to deepen that pool and widen that pool, and what’s a better way to start your career than here in Australia for some of the guys? Yes, I think four years seems like a long time, but it really isn’t and as much games as these guys can play over that span, I think, is going to widen the pool and give us a headache when that time comes to hopefully select a strong squad. And then, they will also gain a lot more experience by that time.”
Having missed out on last year’s ODI World Cup, Hope shared how disappointing the occurrence was and revealed the intention to move past it.
“Everyone knows it hurts, being on the world stage and being one of the dominating teams in world cricket for a period of time and not being involved in one of the biggest tournaments in sport, certainly hurt us as a team, and then obviously, we know the wide range of supporters for West Indies cricket,” Hope related.
He went on to add, “So, yes, it’s something that we felt, but that’s gone, we have to look ahead. We’ve got some years to prepare, to get ourselves ready for the next World Cup, so that’s the main focus right now.”
The first ODI between the West Indies and Australia will bowl off at 23:30h local time tonight. The other two matches will be contested on Saturday, February 3 and Monday, February 5.
