BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AFTER a disappointing performance in the previous World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, current West Indies white-ball coach Daren Sammy is now focused on making improvements in the Test arena.
Sammy is set to take over as head coach when the West Indies begins its upcoming series against Australia. As he prepares for this new role, he is eager to turn the team’s fortunes around in Test cricket while balancing dual responsibilities.
The St. Lucian coach acknowledges the challenge ahead. After discussions with the Director of Cricket about expectations in the Test arena, where the West Indies has struggled, Sammy is clear on his priorities.
One of his key goals is to change the team's culture and adopt a more realistic approach to development. He is focused on building a winning habit over the long term.
"In planning and putting goals on a long-term plan, you have to be realistic,” Sammy explained. “Now, earlier I said how we want to play that we feel it will be successful, we've looked at all the top four teams in the world, regional competition in their territories, what they do on the international scene, mirror it with what we do originally here in our four-day competition, which is what we do on the test team; and we've collected all the data, and once we do that, we now could see where we could, where we match the world in certain areas."
Sammy is also committed to improving the technical aspects of the team, as well as the personnel, to boost the West Indies’ performance and rankings. The team finished eighth in the WTC standings, after playing 13 matches—winning three, losing eight, and drawing two. With 44 points, their percentage stood at 28.21, just ahead of Pakistan.
A highlight for the West Indies during the last cycle was their first Test victory in Australia since 1997.
Looking ahead, Sammy is focused on setting small, achievable goals to gradually improve the team's rankings.
“I’m not going to promise anything that I don’t think is achievable within my tenure,” he said. “If we look at what we did in ODI cricket, we moved from number nine in T20s to as high as number three, following a similar process. To me, the most satisfying period was when we started the one-day team, 18 points behind number nine. We worked hard and made progress.”
"I'm not going to promise anybody something that I don't think is visible within my tenure," he said. "if I am to follow what we did in ODI cricket, more or less, from moving to number nine in T20s, to at one point, number three, with the process that we had, but to me, my most important and satisfying period was the one-day team. When we started, we were 18 points clear of number nine, I think."
Sammy acknowledged that the road ahead in his new role will be a process, with a clear plan that requires effective execution. He also noted that the West Indies team is not currently in a strong position in world cricket but is determined to improve.
