HARARE, Zimbabwe (CMC):
FORMER CAPTAIN and current assistant coach Carl Hooper said it would be “distressing” if West Indies fail to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
The Caribbean side and nine other teams, starting today in Zimbabwe, will play in the final qualifier for the 2023 tournament.
West Indies have been drawn in Group A and they face the United States in their opening match today at the Takashinga Cricket Club in Zimbabwe.
After the Americans, they meet Nepal on Thursday, June 22, at the Harare Sports Club, where they also face the Zimbabweans on Saturday, June 24, and the Netherlands on Monday, June 26 before the Super Six Stage to determine the final two spots in the World Cup.
Recollecting the team’s struggle to qualify for the Twenty20 World Cup last year in Australia, Hooper said another failure like that would also be hard to swallow.
“The position hasn’t changed,” he said during a virtual news conference on Friday.
“The point is can we go lower than this? Yes, we can go lower than this, and if we don’t qualify, we go a step lower.
“Never thought that I’d live to see the day where West Indies are trying to qualify for major tournaments. I sat in Australia, and we struggled to get through it in the T20s, and here we are in Zimbabwe.”
West Indies enter the qualifier ranked 10th, while Afghanistan and Bangladesh directly qualified for the World Cup through results in designated ODI matches over the past two years that carried points.
“No disrespect to the other teams, but we’re playing against the likes of the USA, Nepal, and Scotland,” Hooper said.
“Even Afghanistan is ahead of us, and Bangladesh has gone ahead of us. So, this is distressing, and can we go lower? Yes, we can go lower.
“This game continues to remind you that until you start doing the right things, you can go lower. As I said before, I never thought I would live to see this day, but here I am in Zimbabwe, starting a game on Sunday. We’ve got to try and beat the USA.”
Hooper said this reality is what inspired him to get involved and try to help the current crop of players turn things around.