T20 trophy should inspire West Indies to tri-nations triumph – Keith Semple
By Ravi Madholall
TORONTO: – Former Guyana and West Indies middle-order batsman Keith Semple has expressed confidence of West Indies winning the limited-over tri-nations home series against Australia and South Africa which starts
Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine
on Friday in Guyana.
Semple, who is currently residing in Canada, stated that even though some of the stars are not playing, they still have got the buoyance to deliver quality performances on home soil.
“We have just shown in the International Cricket Council T20 World Cup that we can beat anyone in the world when those players are selected, plus we were without two of our stars, Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine; but with them and we play with the same passion and commitment that showed in the World Cup, I think the sky is the limit,” the 45-year-old right-hander declared.
The ex-Demerara Cricket Club cricketer referring to esteemed players like pugnacious opener Chris Gayle and enigmatic all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who contributed substantially to the regional team success by lifting the eminent T20 cup for the second time since its inauguration in 2007.
Semple not ruling out the dominance of Australia and South Africa rating them to be terrific one-day teams. “We are playing against two of the best one-day teams in the world, both of which will be almost at full strength so it will be a great challenge for us too,” Semple revealed.
He continued to say that South Africa have consistently been one of the best teams ever since their reintegration to world cricket and currently have a number of world-class players in their lineup so on their day they can beat anyone.
“South Africa do play a tough and aggressive brand of cricket and are always very professional in their approach so you know they will be ready when the tournament starts,” Semple, who played seven ODIs for West Indies, commented.
Quizzed on how West Indies should approach the series, Semple related that obviously the aim is to win but, as difficult as it might seem considering that all the best players will not be playing.
“I think having the right mindset gives the players the best chance of performing to their full potential; I also think it is a great opportunity for the players selected to compete against top quality international players, assess where their individual games are and try to learn as much as possible in order to grow and develop as players,” Semple, who featured in 56 first-class matches for native country, divulged.
West Indies’ cricket continues to be quite problematic owing to payment issues but Semple is very optimistic this would not affect the players from playing to the best of their ability.
“I don’t think it will affect the performance of the players who are selected because, as seen in the last T20 World Cup that we won, the players are still professional enough to go out and perform at a very high level despite the lingering payment issue,” the Canadian-based Guyanese, who still plays occasionally in North America, asserted.
Meanwhile, West Indies will open their campaign against South Africa on Friday in the day/night encounter before colliding with Australia Sunday at the same venue, the Guyana National Stadium, Providence. The series is set to conclude on June 26 at the Kensington Oval, Barbados.
West Indies squad reads: Jason Holder (Captain), Suleiman Benn, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Jonathan Carter, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Shannon Gabriel, Sunil Narine, Ashley Nurse, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuel and Jerome Taylor.
