King upbeat about World Cup hopes

Come April, the West Indies will be attempting to do something that has never been achieved before: become the first host nation to win the World Cup. On the basis of an impressive recent ODI revival, Bennett King, the West Indies coach, is confident it can be done.

King told the official West Indies cricket website, "I think what we've seen is a progression of our play in the limited-overs format. The limited-overs format, at the moment, suits us better. The concentration levels are shorter. This amount of time is quite good. With that in mind, we're optimistic. The limited-overs format is an interesting game. Anyone on their given day, if they have a good day, can win a game of limited-overs cricket."

Despite losing their most recent ODI series - 3-1 to Pakistan - the West Indies were one of the form teams of last year. They won 18 out of 33 ODIs, including two wins against Australia. The season included an impressive 4-1 rout of India at home, as well as runs to the finals of two ODI tournaments: the DLF Cup in Malaysia and the Champions Trophy in India. They crumbled on both occasions, losing to Australia each time.

King acknowledged that finding consistency in their performances and results would be the key to success. "If a side has a below par game, they can lose. What we've got to make sure of is that we don't have a lot of bad games. Our bad games tend to be the ones when we don't score over 150. The better sides, their bad games are when they don't score over 250. We've got to work towards this. We've been winning games in the one-day format against really good opposition, which gives the players confidence. We've just got to maintain that consistency."

The West Indies begin the final stages of their preparation for the World Cup by embarking on a short tour to India towards the end of January where they will play four ODIs in ten days.