Davis worried over WI’s losing mentality

THE poor run of form by the West Indies team – especially in the limited-overs format – is proving to be worrisome for former WI and TT opening batsman Bryan Davis.

The WI team had a forgettable tour of India, as they were beaten 2-0 in the two Test matches, 3-1 in the five One-Day Internationals and 3-0 in the three T20 Internationals.

Earlier this year, the touring Bangladesh defeated the West Indies 2-1 in both the three-game ODI and T20 series.

This week, the WI started a tour of Bangladesh where they will play two Tests, three ODIs and three T20 matches.

Reflecting on the limited-overs matches in India, Davis said, “You have to be realistic and look at what’s happening. You look at the T20 series and you’ll realise we’re playing very poor cricket.”

Davis touched on the final T20 International against India on November 11. WI posted 181-3 and India replied with 182-4, off the final ball.

“We made some runs while they rested two main bowlers (Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav),” said Davis. “India now could experiment with us and try different people.”

He added, “We’re playing bad cricket. You cannot get away from that fact. This thing about talking positive all the time, to me that’s a lot of nonsense.”

Before the final T20 in India, experienced wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin lamented the fact that the WI were struggling without some of the more high-profiled players.

However, Davis insisted, “We’re making excuses. When you are playing for the West Indies, you’re going with the best team you have, whether your experienced players are there or not. We’ve been losing with our senior players anyway.

“We had (Kieron) Pollard there, he didn’t do anything. So don’t think that the senior players would have made any difference. We have been a losing team for some years now.”

According to the ex-WI manager, “Two years ago when we won the World Cup under (coach Phil) Simmons and (captain Darren) Sammy, you could have seen a difference in the players, in their spirit and the way how they approached the game. Now, there is no spirit in the team. It has nothing to do with senior players.”

Five players – Oshane Thomas, Khary Pierre, Fabian Allen, Obed McCoy and Chanderpaul Hemraj – were given their WI debuts during the limited-overs matches in India.

According to Davis, “I like them, and you have to persist with them, but you have to prepare them properly – their minds (and) their attitudes.”

However, Davis wondered if the WI captains Jason Holder (Tests and ODIs) and Carlos Brathwaite (T20s) are capable of improving the fortunes of their respective teams.

“You’re still carrying on with the same captains that’s (losing) all the time. Where is the leadership to come from? You have to experiment, you have to try somebody else.”