BRIDGETOWN—West Indies assistant coach, Roddy Estwick, has urged the Caribbean side to step up to the next level in the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, stressing it was time to start producing series wins in order to become a force to be reckoned with.
Speaking in Barbados on Tuesday ahead of the squad’s departure for the November 27 to December 15 tour, Estwick said the time had come in the Windies’ development to move beyond the occasional Test victory to a stage where they were playing consistently enough to win series.
West Indies have not won a Test series on New Zealand soil in a quarter of a century and have won just three of 12 series overall inside the last five years.
“I think we’ve got to win series now. We win the odd Test match – you can [look at] all the teams we’ve played in the last two years – we’ve won one Test match but we haven’t won the series,” Estwick contended.
“I think it’s big for us now that we start winning series. If we want to move up, we’ve got to win series. It’s important that we put two or three performances together, not one good performance and we tend to fade away.
“We’ve got to win series and there’s no doubt about that, and we’ve got to start here in New Zealand by trying to win this series by playing good, positive, hard disciplined cricket.”
West Indies endured a nightmare on their last tour of New Zealand three years ago, suffering heavy defeats in both Tests inside four days.
They went down by an innings and 67 runs in the opening Test at Wellington and were then crushed by 240 runs in the second Test at Hamilton, to suffer a chastening whitewash.
Estwick said if the Windies were to be successful, they needed to pull all the facets of their game together but also needed to show plenty character against a very strong home side.
“New Zealand is a very, very difficult side playing at home. We’ve got to be up and we’ve got to execute properly. We’ve got to sit down and we’ve got to plan,” said the former Barbados quick bowler.
“We know what it was like last time and we’ve got to make sure we’re ready because nobody goes to New Zealand and wins easily. You’ve got to be prepared to scrap. Sometimes they can be very patient and you’ve got to match that patience as well.
“We’ve got to leave no stone unturned to make sure we can combat New Zealand.”
West Indies will play two Tests in New Zealand, the first in Hamilton from December 3-7 and the second in Wellington starting four days later.
The Tests will be preceded by three Twenty20 Internationals from November 27-30 in Auckland and Mount Maunganui.
Players from both squads, minus those currently campaigning in the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates, assembled here in recent days and will travel together to New Zealand where they will first undergo a two-week quarantine period.
The IPL-based players will link up with the squad once they have fulfilled their commitments.
For the hosts, the series marks the first international fixtures since the global lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
West Indies kick-started the international schedule last July when they toured England for three Tests, in cricket’s first-ever bio-secure series. (CMC)
