WI coach optimistic of World Cup history Monday, January 08, 2007 03:41 [IST]
Bridgetown: West
Indies coach Bennett King insists his team can make history in
April by becoming the first ever host nation to the win the World Cup.
"I think what we've seen is a progression of our play
in the limited-overs format," King said.
"The limited-overs format at the moment suits us
better. The concentration levels are shorter. This amount of time is quite
good. With that in mind, we're optimistic," he said.
"The limited-overs format is an interesting game.
Anyone on their given day, if they have a good day, can win a game of
limited-overs cricket. If a side has a below par game, they can lose. What
we've got to make sure of is that we don't have a lot of bad games," King
told sources.
But the coach admits there is still work to do in convincing
the West Indies, world champions in 1975 and 1979, that they can prevent mighty
Australia from winning a third successive world title.
West Indies lost the Champions Trophy final against the
Aussies in India
last year. "Our bad games tend to be the ones when we don't score
over 150," said King.
"The better sides, their bad games are when they don't
score over 250. We've got to work towards this. We've been winning games in the
one-day format against really good opposition, which gives the players
confidence. We've just got to maintain that consistency," he said. |