Windwards senior cricket coach feels let down

Coach of the Windward Islands team which failed to win a match in the NAGICO Super-50 competition Ian Allen feels let down by his charges.{{more}}

The Windwards lifted the title in 2013, which was played under a different format, but were ousted after losing to Jamaica, Guyana and Ireland in the preliminary round of the competition, which winds up in Trinidad and Tobago this weekend.

Batting second on the three occasions, the Windwards were beaten by Jamaica by 14 runs and by Guyana by 22 runs, and went under to the Irish by 64 runs.

“ …It was a real disappointment …. looking back at the matches, we had put ourselves in winning positions, but were not able to finish as we have done in previous years,” Allen recalled to SEARCHLIGHT last Saturday.

Pointing to the batting of the team, Allen said “It was just a bit of ill-discipline which crept into the batting, as one or two batsmen would have gotten starts, but did not push on and these are the areas which we need to capitalize on.

“It was disappointing for the West Indies batters who came back into the team (Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles), because they had an important role to play in dominating the bowling in these regional competitions, but that was not the case,” Allen pointed out.

On the other hand, Allen thought that his bowlers got better with each match and in the main did what they were asked to.

Allen, though, was pleased with the efforts of Keddy Lesporis who scored his maiden century versus Jamaica, and the bowling of Mervyn Matthew and Delorn Johnson.

Allen assessed that Matthew performed well with the ball, granted his almost two years away from the sport and in the case of Johnson, he showed signs of getting back to where he was a few years ago.

Looking to shift gear in the four-day format later this month, Allen is hoping that the disappointments of the 50-over format will be buried and players will apply themselves differently.

“We have to come good against Barbados in a day/ night match in St Lucia… that in itself is a challenge with the pink balls … . But what I would like though that now the players are back in their respective territories that they will be involved in match situations to get them ready for the four-day competition,” Allen stated.

“We have never won the four-day format … the closest we have come was second, back in 1982 and 1983, and as coach that is one of my main objectives,” Allen noted.

Allen’s positive outlook stems from the fact that the Windwards, in the last four seasons, have been able to reach the semi-finals and hopefully they can go better this time around.

Allen is a former St Vincent and the Grenadines, Windwards and West Indies right arm fast bowler.(RT)