West Indies captain Rovman Powell said his team should take pride in bringing the buzz back to Caribbean cricket during the Twenty20 World Cup, even though they bowed out of the tournament in the Super Eight stage on Sunday.
The co-hosts needed to beat South Africa in Antigua to reach the semifinals but despite taking the rain-disrupted match down to the wire their bid for a third title came to an end in a three-wicket loss.
“When you look on a large scale, we haven’t won the World Cup, we aren’t in the semifinals, but I think the cricket that we’ve played in the last 12 months or so is commendable,” he said.
“Credit has to be given to the team, if you can take a year to move from number nine to number three in the world, that’s tremendous work.
“We haven’t won the World Cup but there was a lot of improvement and there’s a lot of buzz around the Caribbean again about West Indies cricket.”
Powell paid tribute to the big, noisy crowds that had turned out around the region for the West Indies matches and for the fans who had shown their support for the team on social media.
“They have been fantastic,” he added. “It’s good to see that some buzz is back in the Caribbean for the cricket because we know for how long that has died down. And I know people are rallying around the West Indies as they do.
“Now, when we hear the anthem play as players, we feel something, and I think that is heading in the right direction. Credit has to be given to the guys, they fought tonight and they fought throughout the last 12 months.”
West Indies have faded as a force since the days of the 1970s and 1980s when they were feared throughout the cricket world and Powell hoped this tournament would mark a turning point.
“Now is where the work starts for us to continue to work as a group still be tight,” he said. “And hopefully, just hopefully we can continue to climb the rankings and make the Caribbean people proud.”
The Windies skipper also paid tribute to fans who came out in big numbers in every game to support the home team.
“They have been fantastic. Every venue we have played and all the social media likes and stuff they have given us, we really appreciate that as a team,” he said.
“Good to see some buzz is back and for long, it had died down. Now, people are rallying around the players.
“When we hear the anthem, as players, we feel something and that is heading in the right direction. Thanks to the people of Antigua for coming out (tonight). Not just people in Antigua but to everyone in the Caribbean, thanks for coming out.”