Windies drawing on English experience for strong finish

The West Indies might be out of the running for a place in the World Cup semi-finals but assistant coach Roddy Estwick has backed them to finish on a high.

The side from the Caribbean close out their campaign against Afghanistan at Headingley, having failed to pick up a win since their opening success against Pakistan.

But Estwick drew parallels with the Test series in England two years ago when the West Indies upset England in Leeds, Shai Hope hitting a brilliant century to level the series after a big defeat at Edgbaston.

He explained: “Walking in here I remember our backs were against the wall against England (in 2017). We had lost badly at Birmingham.

“Everybody was saying going into the final day that we were going to lose to England badly as well. We chased 322 down. So hopefully with backs against the wall again we can come up with that kind of performance and we can finish on a high.

“Obviously we’re not happy losing games. But we started to build something and once we can remain patient, we can keep building. Young players are coming through and once that keeps happening then things will get a lot better.”

When Estwick talks about young players, one who has really come to the fore has been Nicholas Pooran, talked up by Chris Gayle as the future of West Indies cricket earlier in the tournament.

Pooran’s century almost got the Windies over the line last time out at Durham against Sri Lanka, that ton his first as a professional.

But for Estwick, it has not come as a surprise to see Pooran emerge, insisting the 23-year-old, who will be back at Headingley later this summer with Yorkshire, has always had the potential.

He added: “I’ve always believed in Nicholas. I went to Dubai with him and I saw him play the best white-ball innings I’ve ever seen anybody play. He got 148 in a youth World Cup game against Australia out of 208.

“So I’m not surprised by his talent. What’s surprised me is it’s taken as long as this to really come through. And I hope that he can build on this now and he can really cement his place for a very long time.”

The Windies have had to cope with a number of injuries over the course of the tournament, losing Andre Russell midway through, while star bowler Kemar Roach missed the Sri Lanka game through illness.

He is expected to be fit for the clash with Afghanistan, where the Caribbean side will look to perform better in the crucial moments of the game.

Estwick added: “Looking back over the eight games that we played, I personally thought we should have won four of those. We were very, very close.

“We just didn’t play the big moments well. And hopefully we can learn from that and we can move forward and we can plan for the next one.”