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WEST Indies One Day International (ODI) captain Jason Mohammed hopes his players are inspired by the letter penned by former West Indies captain Sir Clive Lloyd. Mohammed said he is grateful for Lloyd’s encouraging words as there have been negative discussions surrounding cricket in the region.
In the recent letter, Lloyd told the West Indies players this is a “chance of cementing a permanent place” and “you’re not second-class cricketers.”
Several senior players have chosen not to tour Bangladesh for a three-match ODI series and a two-match Test series because of covid19 and personal fears according to Cricket West Indies. This has left room for several players to make their debut for West Indies on the Bangladesh tour.
The ODI series will bowl off next Wednesday and ends on January 25, followed by the Test series from February 3 to 15.
The West Indies touring party will be led by two new captains with Mohammed replacing Kieron Pollard and Kraigg Brathwaite filling in for Jason Holder as Test captain.
The other players opting not to tour because of covid19 and personal fears are Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran. Fabian Allen and Shane Dowrich are unavailable because of personal reasons.
Mohammed, speaking to journalists on Zoom on Thursday, said he was delighted to hear the positive message from Lloyd.
“Obviously those are the sort of things that you want to here because there are a lot of negative talks going around, but when you hear someone like Sir Clive Lloyd obviously it is a great belief he puts within you.”
The West Indies players on tour will also try to impress before the T20 World Cup later this year.
Mohammed added, “As you said with the World Cup coming up it’s an opportunity for all of us here to try and put our hands up firstly to get into the original team when the full squad is back and have a chance to go into a cricket world cup.”
Lloyd, who captained West Indies during its most successful period in the 1970s and 1980s, said when he made his debut he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
In 1966, Seymour Nurse got injured and less than an hour before a Test match against India began Lloyd was told he would start.
Lloyd never looked back and he cemented his place before later becoming captain from 1974 to 1985.
Speaking more about Lloyd’s letter, Mohammed said, “Obviously I think that will really inspire the guys a lot and hopefully we can back his words up.”
After ending a mandatory quarantine period West Indies held its first training session on Thursday.
Mohammed said his young charges are not feeling pressured to perform.
“I would not say it is more pressure obviously as you said (these are) young guys who are looking to play international cricket so I don’t think it’s more pressure. I think it is an ideal opportunity for all of us to put our hands up and say, ‘Look we are ready for international cricket.’ I don’t think it is more pressure, but I think everyone is just looking forward to the opportunity.”
Mohammed, who trained with the TT Red Force before leaving for Bangladesh, did not get the chance to interact with Pollard a lot before leaving Trinidad.
However, Pollard did wish him luck.
“To be honest I did not have much conversations with Pollard. It is just one practice I believe we had together before I left. Obviously he would have spoken to me on the leadership of the team…in terms of my personal game (he said) just try and make the best use of the opportunity.”.
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