West Indies white-ball team arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday

KINGSTON, Jamaica — A contingent of the West Indies white-ball team arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday evening, where the Caribbean side will host Ireland in three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and a one-off T20 International (T20I), beginning on Saturday.

West Indies Bowling Coach, Roddy Estwick, in speaking to members of the media (Television Jamaica) expressed the collective objective of this largely inexperienced bowling unit, for this series and beyond.

“We’re obviously building towards the 2023 World Cup. So, it’s an opportunity for people to stake their claim,” he stated.

“We’ve played Ireland before [and] they are a very good side, so we know that we’ve got our work cut out. But once we can stay disciplined and execute our skills properly, we should be okay.”

The Barbadian also warned the youngsters of the stakes at the highest level.

“Well, it’s all about discipline. Once you are at the International level, you’ve got to be disciplined. You’ve got to be patient. You can’t be trying too many [variations].

“You’ve just got to make sure that you know the strengths and the weaknesses of the batsmen and then you’ve got to back yourself to execute your skill. But you still have to be patient.”

Addressing West Indies’ inability to consistently get to scores of 300-plus, he said:

“We played against Sri Lanka and we got 290-300 runs. We chased 280. It’s all about building blocks. You can’t start from the top; you’ve got to start from the bottom [and] you’ve got to build. The greatest journey starts with small steps.”

Despite the challenges facing the West Indies, Estwick says the aim remains to win.

“We can’t have excuses at the International level. You’ve got to make sure that you find a solution to whatever problem is in front of you. So, we’ve got to be ready for a good hard series, for a side that is always going to be disciplined.

“[Ireland] are going to be disciplined, they are going to field well. They are going to work hard, we know that. And we’ve got to be able to match it.”