Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 02/Oct 07:10

CWI's

Cricket West Indies (CWI) director of cricket Miles Bascombe, said the regional side’s 2-1 T20 series defeat to Nepal was disappointing, but noted that there were some positive takeaways, particularly the exposure given to emerging players. West Indies lost the three-match series after dropping the first two games, handing Nepal a historic and first-time triumph over a full ICC member. Speaking at a CWI media briefing on October 1, which also featured maroon president Kishore Shallow and CEO Chris Dehring, Bascombe said the tight turnaround ahead of the series played a role in the team’s slow start. “We always knew that that turnaround time would have been a challenge. They pretty much had one day to acclimatise (to the conditions in Nepal) and one practice session going into that series,” he said. “And in a very short tournament of three matches, if you're not off the ground running from match one you can very well find yourself behind the eight ball as we did.” He stressed that the main focus of that series was to give opportunities to younger players, many of whom progressed through the Caribbean Premier League T20 and CWI’s developmental Breakout T20 League, earlier this year. The Windies squad versus Nepal featured spinner Akeal Hosein as first-time T20 captain, and six debutants. Among them were Karima Gore, Zishan Motara, Ramon Simmonds, Navin Bidaisee, Ackeem Auguste and Amir Jangoo. “The opportunity for exposure has been key. We need more information in terms of filling some of those positions, showing up some of the positions that we have in our international T20 team.” He added that despite the defeat, CWI gathered valuable insight into potential squad options for the future. “I think that series, albeit a very disappointing loss, we were still able to identify some options. We have seen some players that have come all the way from the breakout league, all the way through now into international T20 cricket and have shown that they may have what it takes to make the step up to the international level.” Bascombe urged fans to understand the broader objectives of such tours. “While I wouldn't want to disarm anyone of that emotional response to a West Indies loss as the CEO puts it, we still need to be able to expose our players and give them that opportunity to shine in challenging conditions.” Looking ahead, he expressed optimism in the group’s potential. “I'm quite confident that we have seen some good signs." The post CWI's appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.