West Indies captain Kieron Pollard has termed the series loss against Ireland a “sad day” for West Indies cricket. The former world champions faced an embarrassing ODI series loss with a two-wicket loss in the third ODI at Sabina Park in Kingston on Sunday (January 16). Speaking after the series defeat, Pollard couldn't hide his emotions as he regarded the day as one of the lowest points in the nation's cricket.
“It's a sad day for us and sad day for West Indies cricket. Very disappointing and a tough pill to swallow. We have a batting problem in the Caribbean the last couple of years and from a bowling perspective, guys can only defend what we have on the board and they worked their back sides off to get the wickets,” the 34-year-old said in the post-match presentation.
“Obviously the wicket flattened out in the second half and we had to work harder. It's a holistic sort of approach that needs to take place.
“Throughout the region, we tend to praise mediocrity that's coming out. Might get in trouble for saying that but it's the honest truth. Can't hide from that fact.
“Yes (the desire is there). Can't fault the work ethic. Can see the difference from a training perspective,” the West Indies captain added.
The skipper didn't sit back to criticise his players and said they need to sit and reflect on the performance of the side.
“The guys are trying to get better and it won't happen overnight and it's not gloom or doom and it's a matter of putting our heads together and we really need to sit down and think deep about where we need to take the West Indies cricket forward.”
The series win for Ireland was their first against an International Cricket Council (ICC) full member nation. They had earlier lost the opening ODI by 24 runs before the rain-curtailed match saw them win the second ODI by the DLS method. In the series decider, Andy McBrine was the architect of the win as he scored 59 runs and scalped four wickets to earn both the 'Man of the Series' and 'Man of the Match' award.
