Browne: ‘Windies working on being competitive’

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS: West Indies vice-captain Courtney Browne yesterday said the beleaguered regional team was bound to find their way out of the current slump, once they continue to focus on being competitive. The West Indies team, reeling from nine successive defeats in One Day Internationals dating back to the VB Triangular Series in January, has been struggling to find their winning touch. Their record in Tests has been just as unflattering as they were whitewashed in Home and Away series against England last year and then thrashed by South Africa in the recent Digicel Test series. “We have some very tough series coming up and we have to work hard. It’s about being competitive,” Browne said.

“Winning is always around the corner but in order to get there, there is a process you have to take and I think we have started that process and we are willing to work hard and we are willing to be committed to the people in the Caribbean and to the team.”  Browne, the 34-year old Barbados captain, said the team was currently going through a process of change and stressed that results would not be immediate. “People are not seeing the results they want to see, obviously the West Indian team used to be the best team in the world,” the experienced wicketkeeper/batsman pointed out. “If I was sitting on the street corner or just sitting in the stands, I would feel the same way West Indian people feel at this time but because I am in there, I know it’s a process we have to take and that’s what we are doing.

“We are committed and we are working towards playing better cricket. There are signs there but we just need to turn the corner and we are working towards that.” The Windies take on Pakistan in the First Test of the two-match series today at Kensington Oval after having lost every match of the Digicel Home Series against South Africa and Pakistan. Browne admitted that the team had started the series slowly and were now attempting to gather momentum. “Cricket is the sort of game — or any sport basically — you always try to start at a standard and if you are not there you try to get there at some point,” Browne explained. The appointment of coach Bennett King has failed to make any impression on the team’s fortunes but Browne says the players were totally committed to the Australian’s leadership. (CMC)