West Indies head coach Daren Sammy says the team is brimming with confidence ahead of their upcoming Test series against New Zealand.
The West Indies last defeated the Kiwis in a Test series in the Caribbean in 2012 and will be searching for their first Test series win in New Zealand in over 30 years.
Despite their disappointing record against the hosts, Sammy said he was impressed by his team’s mindset heading into the first Test, which bowled off on Dec. 2.
The regional team recently played a two-day warm-up match against a New Zealand XI.
“In the [T20I and ODI] series, we created so many opportunities to win. When I look at the seven games that were played, we were in contention to win five of them, but we let it slip away. Credit must go to New Zealand on how they’ve made home a fortress.”
“I was quite impressed with the positives that we had coming out of that series, and now we’re in the Test match arena. We haven’t won here since 1995 – that’s 30 years – so we have a challenge on our hands,” Sammy told the media.
“But I was just watching these guys prepare, and the intensity at training today is something that we’ve spoken about, and to see the immediate reaction to the things that we want to see, I’m quite happy with the way preparations are going.”
Sammy said the West Indies were looking to upset New Zealand in the three-match series and end the year on a winning note, adding that the team had impressed in their last Test match against India and he was looking forward to them continuing it.
“First, in order to win, you must be able to compete, and we have to compete.”
“I’m just watching the Ashes, and the Test match went two days, so you know it’s not only West Indies. Then I watched a Test match in South Africa between India and another team, and I don’t think it went into the third day either. We came from India, and we pushed them into a fifth day in a Test match, something that has not been done in a while in India,” Sammy said.
“We might not have the numbers behind us coming into New Zealand, but I think the mindset that we have here and what we’re trying to create here is good, and it boils down to execution…One thing we’ve shown over here is that we challenge them. In the T20I series, in the ODI series, I don’t think the results reflected on how we played.”
