CARDIFF, Wales – West Indies continued their preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy with a full training session on Monday, the day after arriving in Wales. The squad, under the guidance of Head Coach Ottis Gibson, went through their drills at the Swalec Stadium in Cardiff – where they will face Australia in their first official warm-up match on Saturday.
Gibson has been at the helm for over three years and said one of the keys to success in this tournament is proper preparation. The 44-year-old is familiar with conditions in Wales, having played for Glamorgan in the English County circuit in the 1990s.
Looking ahead to tournament he said: "It is who gets settled quickly enough or who gets used to the conditions quickly enough that will do well. That can then have a major say, as well, and that’s what our aim is …to get ourselves acclimatised as quickly as possible. It is all about gelling as quickly as we can to ensure that when the main event comes on June 7, that we are ready for them."
Gibson added: "Getting out of the group is our first challenge and getting to the semi-finals, and then our aim is to be playing on the 23rd of June in the finals. I think we have a pretty good record in finals."
West Indies held a camp at the Sagicor High Performance Centre in Barbados last week before they travelled to Wales, where they have another camp this week.
The ICC Champions Trophy will feature eight teams: Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies. The tournament will be played across three venues – Cardiff Wales Stadium, Edgbaston and The Oval – from June 6-23.
The Windies have been drawn in Group B alongside the Indians, the Pakistanis and the South Africans. They open against Pakistan on Friday, June 7 at the Oval and return to the famous venue on Tuesday, June 11 to take on India. The final preliminary match will be against the Proteas on Friday, June 14 in Cardiff.
West Indies won the ICC Champions trophy back in 2004 – when Brian Lara’s team beat England in the final at the Oval. Several members of that squad, including skipper Dwayne Bravo will play in the upcoming tournament.
Gibson said the sensational victory in the ICC World T20 tournament in Sri Lanka last October has given the team great confidence.
"Winning major events gives the confidence. There will be some pressure of course, but the fact that we have won the last major event means that we get confidence from it also, and there is a lot of belief amongst the players," Gibson said.
The West Indies will have another training session at the Swalec Stadium on Tuesday at 2 pm.
FULL SQUAD
Dwayne Bravo (Captain)
Denesh Ramdin (Vice Captain/Wicketkeeper)
Tino Best
Darren Bravo
Johnson Charles
Chris Gayle
Jason Holder
Sunil Narine
Kieron Pollard
Ravi Rampaul
Kemar Roach
Darren Sammy
Marlon Samuels
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Devon Smith
TEAM MANAGEMENT
Ottis Gibson (Head Coach)
Richie Richardson (Team Manager)
Toby Radford (Assistant Coach)
Andre Coley (Assistant Coach)
C.J. Clark (Physiotherapist)
Hector Martinez Charles (Strength & Conditioning Coach)
Richard Berridge (Video & Statistical Analyst)
Philip Spooner (Media Manager)
Virgil Browne (Massage Therapist)
MATCH SCHEDULE
Pre-tournament warm-up matches
Saturday, June 1: vs Australia at Cardiff (day/night)
Tuesday, June 4: vs Sri Lanka at Edgbaston
Preliminary matches Group B
Friday, June 7: vs Pakistan at the Oval
Tuesday, June 11: vs India at the Oval
Friday, June 14: vs South Africa at Cardiff
Semi-finals:
Wednesday, June 19: at the Oval
Thursday, June 20: at Cardiff
FINAL: Sunday, June 23 at Edgbaston