Reifer says pride is on the line for West Indies
- West Indies coach and captain Jason Holder hold 90-minute team meeting after India defeat
- Head coach wants to see a response in concluding games with Sri Lanka and Afghanistan
West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer urged his players to play for pride as they start to rebuild for the future.
Jason Holder’s team came into the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup as many experts pick to spring a surprise, especially after scoring 421 in a warm-up victory over New Zealand.
But an opening win over Pakistan at Trent Bridge has proved the highlight and India were the latest team to lower their colours, with a 125-run win at Old Trafford.
Reifer and Holder held an impromptu team meeting for 90 minutes after this defeat and the head coach, who replaced Richard Pybus on the eve of the World Cup, wants to see a response against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in their concluding matches.
“We had some frank discussions about the World Cup that we’ve had and we’ll try to finish the tournament as a strong unit now,” he said.
“We are still playing for pride, we know that 67 million people back home in the Caribbean are backing us and we are representing them here.
“This is about our journey, there is cricket after this World Cup and we need to find that winning formula and culture again.
“We’ve not done too well in the World Cup, we can see improvements but we need to put together a complete game.
“The guys bowled well against India and the fielding was much improved but it’s about getting all three departments working together to win cricket games.”
Reifer also made special mention of the contribution of Chris Gayle, who is expected to conclude his colourful ODI career with the West Indies next week.
He added: “Chris said a lot of good things in the meeting and made a lot of good points and it’s always good to have him in the dressing room. He’s a champion.”
West Indies restricted India to 268/7, Kemar Roach the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/36. But key batsmen Gayle and Shai Hope went early as the Windies found themselves facing a battle on 16/2.
And newcomer Sunil Ambris, opening alongside Gayle, admitted it was a missed opportunity.
“It was a very disappointing game for us, we should have got that score if we’d batted properly,” he said, after topping the Windies batting figures with 31.
“We were happy with the way we bowled, we’d have taken their total at the beginning of their innings.
“It was rough losing Chris so early because we know how important he is for our team. Shai is the guy in form too which made it very difficult.”