ST JOHN’S, Antigua (CMC) — Director of Cricket at Cricket West Indies (CWI) Miles Bascombe has no doubt that the regional team will qualify for the 2027 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.

In the latest ODI rankings, West Indies slipped one spot to 10th to find themselves out of an automatic qualification spot for next year’s World Cup, which will be hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in October.

Bangladesh, now occupy ninth place following their recent series win over Pakistan, which would see them automatically qualifying for the marquee event.

The West Indies are seeking a return to the World Cup after missing out on qualifying for the last edition in 2023 for the first time in its history.

Speaking during CWI’s quarterly press conference on Friday, Bascombe revealed that the West Indies had eight ODI matches remaining before the March 2027 deadline.

He said he was very confident that even if the Windies did not finish in the top nine teams to secure an automatic spot, they would still advance through the CWC Qualifier, which awards four spots.

“We have eight One-Day Internationals between now and March 28, which is the cut-off date. All of those teams outrank us in ODI cricket, which is an opportunity, and it means that any victories against these teams would certainly help our cause in terms of automatic qualification.

“So that is what our plan would be, to ensure that we are as prepared as we could be so that we can maximise these eight matches and get as many points as we can,” Bascombe said.

“I’m confident that we will be very prepared. Judging from what I’ve seen coming out of the World Cup, we will try to maintain that momentum. I’m sure we will maximise these eight matches and if that is not good enough and we have to go to the Qualifiers, we will certainly go there and represent the region and get ourselves into the World Cup, so no, I’m not nervous.”