The West Indies travelled to Birmingham to prepare for their final warm-up game ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy in good spirits despite their loss to Australia here. Playing in their first warm-up game at the SWALEC Stadium Saturday, the West Indies showed glimpses of good form before losing by six wickets.
Assistant coach Toby Radford said the outing had been important in terms of getting the players crucial match practice and acclimatised to the local weather.
‘We have been in the nets for a while now so it was good to get out in the middle. I think we got a lot out of this game. It was our first game of the tour and it was good to get out there and get accustomed to the weather and the conditions,’ he pointed out.
‘Also getting used to the different wickets, as we have been playing a lot in the Caribbean and we had others who were playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and joined us.’
The West Indies will undergo a full training session Monday before clashing with Sri Lanka Tuesday at Edgbaston in another warm-up game. Following the match, the West Indies will turn their attention to their opening game against Pakistan Friday at the Oval in London.
The Caribbean side is contesting Group B alongside India, South Africa and Pakistan while Group A will see hosts England, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand doing battle. Windies are rated as the dark horses.