ST JOHN’S, Antigua, (CMC) - Members of the West Indies cricket team started to arrive yesterday to begin their short camp before Saturday’s departure for their four-month tour of Zimbabwe and South Africa.
West Indies face Zimbabwe in a series of two Tests and five limited-overs internationals, then tussle with South Africa in four Tests and five limited-overs internationals.
“We’re looking at the readiness physically and medically, then we are doing some strategic planning, some mental training, and on Friday we are going to spend the day in the outfield working on the things we need to do technically,” team manager Ricky Skerritt told CMC Sports yesterday.
Skerritt is optimistic about the team’s performance, but identified the team’s transition from the requirements of regional limited-overs cricket to international cricket as priority.
“It is not an easy transition to make, but I think the players are going to be up for the job and we visited Zimbabwe two years ago, so we have a fair understanding of what we can expect and I think generally we should have a good tour,” he said.
Reminded about the team’s woeful record on the road, Skerritt noted the team had been turning it around slowly, but the pace has to increase sharply.
“The last overseas series we won was when we were in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“We have an opportunity, therefore, to repeat it, but we have five players that have never toured with the West Indies team abroad before. The good news is, however, that 11 people have, so the team is not completely without experience.
We are going to be very positive and I believe we should do very well.” Skerritt expressed his delight at the contracting of Kenny Benjamin to the post of assistant coach and Sunit Liebenberg to the position of physiotherapist for the duration of the African tour.
“We have always requested that we have a physiotherapist to work with the team and that is definitely a plus since it’s the same person with whom we worked at the Cricket World Cup 2003 and there’s a certain level of familiarity there,” he said.
“Benjamin is the right guy at the right time. He has been to southern Africa before. He is young enough and has the right attitude to interface with this relatively young team. I think we all have a clear idea of what we expect. We have a clear idea of what the roles will be and is only for us to implement.”
Coach Gus Logie, trainer Ronald Rogers, and statistician Garfield Smith complete the management team.