West Indies head coach Floyd Reifer wants his side to rediscover a “winning culture” after failing to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
Five defeats in seven matches means the West Indies have nothing to play for in their final two games against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan on Monday and Thursday respectively, but Reifer is determined to see improved performances from his side.
“Yes we are out of the World Cup but there is still a lot of cricket to play after the World Cup,” Reifer told a pre-match press conference.
“It’s important for us to find the winning ways and find the winning formula going forward, so it is important for us to play this game as hard as possible.
“We want to create that winning culture. It has to start from somewhere. So we’re going to approach every game in a professional manner. The guys are still up for it. We’re good to go.”
Reifer revealed that there had been some “soul-searching” in the dressing room as the players and management looked to pinpoint the reasons behind a disappointing campaign.
“It is important for us and important for the fans in the Caribbean as well, for us to put up the performances, even at the back end of the World Cup,” Reifer added.
“I think we didn’t seize the key moments in games. You look back at our tournament, we played well against Pakistan. We had Australia on the ropes. New Zealand as well. I thought we need to seize the key moments in the game. At crucial times we dropped a few crucial chances as well.
“And then collectively we didn’t bat properly. The players are not comfortable with their performances, responsibility, those sort of conversations that we had in that team meeting.
“So going forward, I’m looking forward to seeing how the guys play in the next two games.”
