Australia are favorites to win the tri-series: Phil Simmons

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons feels that the world champions, Australia are favorites to win the series, but said it would be a mistake to underestimate his side.

The hosts are ranked 8th in One-Day Internationals whereas South Africa is at no.3 and Australia is the top side in the ICC ODI team rankings. “They are number one and three in the world for a reason so we need to get up there and that’s the reason we need to play these teams so we can see where we are. Especially if we beat them we know we’re somewhere close to them,” Simmons told reporters here on Wednesday.

He reminded that they were not the favorites in the World T20 2016 held in India, his team went on to win the title, beating hosts India in the semi-final and England in the final. “The number one team in the world has to be the favorites going into the tournament but that’s the thing, I don’t think we were favorites in India at the T20 World Cup so you play the game as you see it.”

The series will begin with West Indies playing against South Africa on Friday at the National Stadium here and follow up with a clash against the Australians on Sunday at the same venue. It’s nearly after four years, West Indies are going to feature in an ODI at this venue. When asked about the home advantage, he said, ”I don’t know about home advantage. It’s been a while since games have been played here so I don’t know about home advantage,”

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“Usually, you get good wickets here, great outfield, and a good crowd so it could be a little bit of home advantage. But how we do determines which side the crowd gets on.”

“Here you can get big scores, chase down big scores and that’s all it is. A good wicket is a wicket that everybody and can bat and bowl and get good scores for the people to watch,” he concluded.