Massage Therapist for the West Indies Cricket team, Virgil Browne is confident that West Indies Cricket will gain a resurgence in the not too on distant future.
As he sat in an exclusive interview with Curtis Morton of NTV Sports in Nevis, Browne reflected on some of the recent outings of the ‘Windies’ team and explained some of the reasons for the below par performances.
He pointed out that the Indian tour was not a planned tour and prior to that the West Indies players spent some time in the USA in more theoretical sessions and then had to engage India who was fresh from a test series.
As regards the New Zealand tour, he noted that the Kiwis got the better of his team but indicated that what a lot of people are not taking note of is that the New Zealand team played exceptionally well and testimony to that fact was the way they beat up on the powerful Indian team, immediately after.
In reference to the recent T-20 world cup, Browne noted that the team gelled well during the tournament and was extra pumped after the James Faulkner incident after he stated that he did not like West Indians.
He is adamant that had not the rain washed out their last game, the West Indies would have come back to win the game and would have gone into the finals.
He stated that it was a sad moment for the team but that they took some consolation in the way they played generally, having won five consecutive matches.
As regards team unity, Browne did not get into any specifics but pointed out that within families, at workplaces etc people do have differences but stated that what he saw in the team, was a sense of professionalism. ‘When there are tasks to be done, the guys go out and do what they have to do, for the team,’ he said.
He also pointed out that as regards home series, the matches should be strategically planned in order to give the Windies team a home court advantage. ‘For instance, why put India to play a fist test match in Trinidad where the conditions will suit them? Start them off on a bouncy, fast pitch in Barbados,’ he said.
As he looks forward to the upcoming series versus New Zealand, Browne is confident that the West Indies team will dominate and thinks that the series will be hyped with Gayle set to play in his 100th test match. He also believes that Kieran Powell will also stand out in the upcoming series as well.
He is also pleased that fellow Nevisian Stuart Williams is now a part of the team set up and noted that the players have warmed to him and he has assisted them greatly with their batting techniques.
At the local level, he has not seen much cricket but he indicated that he has seen some exciting young talent and implored the youngsters to train hard, remain disciplined and says that he is confident that Nevis will be sending more players all the way to the top level, in the not too distant future.