'Settled squad needed for Cup qualifiers'

NOTTINGHAM, England (CMC):

Stuart Law said that he wants to use the remainder of the One-day International series against England to build a settled West Indies squad for the ICC World Cup qualifying tournament next March in Zimbabwe.

With September 30 set as the cut-off date for automatic qualification for the World Cup, the Windies now cannot move ahead of Sri Lanka in the ICC ODI World Rankings irrespective of the results in the remaining matches, which has paved the way for Sri Lanka to gain automatic qualification.

The Windies will now progress to the 10-team World Cup qualifier featuring the Zimbaweans, Afghanistan, and Ireland, as well as the top four sides from the ICC World Cricket League and the top two sides from the ICC WCL Division 2.

The top two sides from the World Cup qualifiers will complete the 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which will be staged from May 30 to July 15 in the United Kingdom.

"Our plan is to go to Zimbabwe next year with a settled team, a team where everyone knows their roles and what they want to achieve," said Law following the washout of the second ODI against England at Trent Bridge.

"It's a balancing act. There's plenty of A-Team cricket in the Caribbean - Sri Lanka "A" are there, and England are coming next year, so there are opportunities, but I'd like to go to Zimbabwe with a team that is pretty settled before the qualifiers."

Law said that there are a number of players that are not currently part of the side in England that may come into the reckoning.