Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper warned on Saturday that the two-time world champion can sink “even lower” if it fails to qualify for the 2023 World Cup.
The once mighty Caribbean side, who captured the first two World Cups in 1975 and 1979, is having to negotiate qualifying for a second successive tournament and will be amongst the favourites to reach the global showpiece in India later this year.
However, the side goes into the 10-team qualifying event, which gets underway in Zimbabwe on Sunday, with little margin for error.
Only two teams will make it through and the field is stacked with countries just as strong in crucial areas as the West Indies.
Fellow former champion Sri Lanka is also having to qualify while the likes of host Zimbabwe, Ireland, Scotland and Nepal all possess potent match-winners.
“Can we go lower than this? Yes, we can go lower than this and if we don’t qualify, we go a step lower,” West Indies assistant coach Hooper told Cricinfo.
“I never thought that I’d live to see the day where West Indies are trying to qualify for major tournaments.”
Hooper is working alongside new coach Darren Sammy, a former T20 World Cup winning captain, who was hired after Phil Simmons quit following the dismal showing at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.
“The position hasn’t changed,” added Hooper. “The point is I sat in Australia, and we struggled to get through it in the T20s and here we are in Zimbabwe.”
“No disrespect to the other teams, but we’re playing against the likes of the USA, Nepal and Scotland. Even Afghanistan is ahead of us, and Bangladesh has gone ahead of us. So, this is distressing, and can we go lower? Yes, we can go lower.”
West Indies had to go through qualifying for the last World Cup and now begins its bid to reach the 2023 edition on Sunday against the United States.
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