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West Indies white-ball captain Shai Hope says the team is upbeat and looking forward to the opening One Day International against hosts Ireland, which bowls off tomorrow in Dublin.
Speaking in a pre-match media conference this morning, Hope said expectations were still high even without the services of Sherfane Rutherford and Romario Shepherd for the three-match series.
John Campbell has been named as a replacement for Rutherford, while Jediah Blades will join the team for the following England tour as a replacement for Shepherd.
It will be no cakewalk for the visitors, who at ninth in the world are three spots higher than Ireland. The last time the two sides met in January 2022 in the Caribbean, Ireland emerged victorious two-one in that three-match series.
Hope says the weather is much warmer than the kind experienced on their last tour to Ireland six years ago, and it has helped the team to acclimatise easily.
Hope is pleased with the direction the team is heading.
He says they have addressed several areas of concern and are much closer to playing the brand of cricket they have identified.
Play is set to start from 5:45 a.m.
