SOUTHAMPTON, England – West Indies bowling coach Corey Collymore spoke to members of the media ahead of the fourth match of the ICC Cricket World Cup. West Indies, two-time World Cup winners, will face the host nation at the Hampshire Bowl on Friday. First ball is 10:30am (5:30am Eastern Caribbean Time/4:30am Jamaica Time). West Indies enter the match with a 1-1-1 record: they had a huge win by seven wickets against Pakistan; lost a close contest to Australia by 15 runs; and had the third match against South Africa rained off.
Collymore is confident the West Indies will be solid in all departments, especially experienced opener Chris Gayle, who is playing in his fifth World Cup. Earlier this year Gayle smashed 39 sixes in four matches against England in the Caribbean. The 39-year-old had scores of 135, 50, 162 and 77 for an aggregate of 424 runs at an average of 106 and a strike rate of 134.
“We have quick bowlers too so it should be a lively game. We have shown what we can do with our fast bowlers, we are good enough to take wickets with the new ball and then go from there. I don’t think many people like the short stuff. If you find a batsman that has a weakness to it, then you go after that,” said the former West Indies fast bowler.
“Chris thrives on occasions like these. I have known him since he was 16 and he has always loved a challenge. He has always enjoyed the challenge of fast bowling, so I expect him to relish that,” added the 41-year-old Collymore who took 93 Test wickets as well as 83 in One-Day Internationals.
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Coverage will be LIVE on ESPN and ESPN2 in the Caribbean. ESPN Play – ESPN’s multiscreen live and on-demand broadband service – will stream all the matches.
FULL SQUAD
Jason Holder (Captain)
Chris Gayle (Vice Captain)
Fabian Allen
Carlos Brathwaite
Darren Bravo
Sheldon Cottrell
Shannon Gabriel
Shimron Hetmyer
Shai Hope
Evin Lewis
Ashley Nurse
Nicholas Pooran
Kemar Roach
Andre Russell
Oshane Thomas
MATCH SCHEDULE
(First ball is 5:30am Eastern Caribbean/4:30am Jamaica; unless otherwise stated)
Friday, May 31: vs Pakistan at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
West Indies won by 7 wickets; Details: https://bit.ly/31emdPM
Thursday, June 6: vs Australia at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Australia won by 15 runs; Details: https://bit.ly/2QSdU7v
Monday, June 10: vs South Africa at Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
No result due to rain; Details: https://bit.ly/2I5ZA8w
Friday, June 14: vs England at Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
Monday, June 17: vs Bangladesh at the County Ground, Taunton
Saturday, June 22: vs New Zealand at Old Trafford, Manchester (8:30am EC Time/7:30am Jamaica)
Thursday, June 27: vs India at Old Trafford, Manchester
Monday, July 1: vs Sri Lanka – at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
Thursday, July 4: vs Afghanistan at Headingley, Leeds
Semi-Finals
Tuesday, July 9: 1st vs 4th at Old Trafford, Manchester
Thursday, July 11: 2nd vs 3rd at Edgbaston, Birmingham
The Final
Sunday, July 14: Semi-final Winner 1 vs Semi-final Winner 2 at Lord’s
July 15: Reserve Day
-CWI