All the fighting before proved to be a catalyst, says West Indies coach Phil Simmons

How did you see that last over develop from the dug-out?

Look, at that point in time it was just the right person on strike. Because I think Marlon (Samuels) was getting tired. That’s what I wanted at the end of the 19th over. I know with Brathwaite there, it’s possible for him to do it. There was nobody else who could do it. Ramdin couldn’t do it. Benn couldn’t do it. And Badree couldn’t do it. But we had Brathwaite facing the first ball. I just said well, it’s either for us or for them now.

You are generally not a man for too much emotion. But were you also jumping up and down like everyone else in the dug-out?

No. I was just sitting calmly as always. I knew that in the first three balls we had to get two sixes to have a chance to win it. Then after the first six, you said right we are in the game. When he hit the second one, I said we’ll win the game now.

But still four sixes in the last over to win a final hasn’t ever happened before. Were you still confident?

I was. See with Brathwaite, Andre Russell and even Darren Sammy, even though he didn’t get it right yesterday, they can pull off stuff like this. In fact, that’s our strength, having a lot of guys down at the bottom, who can score any amount of runs in a chase. That’s generally the plan, to allow them to get the opportunity to do that like yesterday. Yeah there was a little crisis in the middle, but that’s how great scripts are written.

Sammy spoke a lot about the overriding emotion in this team, this us vs them scenario. How did you see them take this challenge on?

It’s emotional because we are fighting against other teams, we are fighting against other organizations but we are also fighting against our own. And these guys are, from what I’ve realized and learnt from being with them, very passionate about West Indies cricket. They want the best for West Indies cricket. That’s why the emotions came out in the end.

Did you use their emotional state and the point-to-prove mentality and let it grow rather than curb it and let them go and express themselves?

You have to let them go. There’s always a catalyst to what you do. Somebody saying that we don’t have brains. That is a big catalyst. All the fighting before we got here is a catalyst. You have to be able to use those things. You have to know to use it in the right way. The first thing about it you notice is that these guys wanted to come here and win the World Cup from even before everything started, whether it was for me, it was for them or for West Indies cricket. That was their biggest catalyst.

What kind of chats did you have with them during or before the tournament? Was there any turning point where you thought OK we are all on the same page?

The nice thing about these boys is I got these boys’ ear from even before I came here. That is even when I was with Ireland, and I wanted to win every game with them. I was happy that we (Ireland) won (beating the West Indies) in the first game of the last World Cup, I would still call the West Indies boys and say, “Boys we need to do this or we need to do that.” Because West Indies cricket was still part of me, and they know that I am for them and I am for West Indies cricket. That’s the important thing. So asking them to go the extra mile and asking them to do things, they have been supportive.

When you started out it was with the Test team, dealing with young guys with no exposure. How different was it here dealing with global superstars in this T20 team?

It’s a lot easier to deal with this team. Because that they all know exactly what they have to do on a given day. With the Test team there’s a lot more telling, and a lot more teaching, a lot more advising. With this team there’s a lot more conferencing and stuff. “What do we do next? What’s our next move?” And we had three proper leaders–Darren (Sammy), Dwayne (Bravo) and Chris (Gayle). People who all the players respect. So I didn’t have much to do.

During the presentation, Curtly Ambrose was urging Sammy to mention your name but you were waving it off. You don’t come across as a coach who likes the spotlight.

The emotion runs all through the squad. Everybody is there and wanting this squad to do well. Curtly has played for West Indies. He knows what it’s like to win things. But that’s how I am. I don’t tell a lot or advice about things. I want you to think a little more. I want you to dictate how you perform. In my day, I had a coach called Rohan Kanhai, who was similar. He didn’t tell. He wasn’t big on technique and things. But he got to understand the person and to understand how to get that person to perform. That’s how I got about things too.

Is this the most emotional West Indian team you have seen?

It looked emotional because of the way the celebration went. It also had a lot to do with what’s happening outside. But I have played with Sir Vivian and them, and there was emotion there. They didn’t celebrate as vigorously as yesterday, maybe not. But they knew how to celebrate success, and even this we’ve learnt from our past greats.

Speaking of emotion, Carlos Brathwaite has overcome a lot to get here.

Life is like that. You have ups and downs and once you are able to cope with the downs, you are going to enjoy the ups. It’s great to see Carlos and the way he is and I know what it means to him, for his mother to be safe and for him to start moving up in life.

Where do you put this moment in your cricket career?

At the top of my coaching career yes. Coaching cannot compare to playing. I would have rather be on the field at some point yesterday helping the team win. I couldn’t explain how big it is. I’m sure there are lots of them partying right now. So it’s a big thing in the Caribbean. It’s huge.

But there in the backdrop there’s the ugly spectre of the players’ issue with the WICB. Do you think it can be fine now considering the World T20 win?

It can’t be all fine. It’s not fine. I don’t anticipate it to be all fine.

In that scenario, how difficult is it to be Phil Simmons. You have so much else to take care of except the cricket-related matters?

It’s a holistic thing. Because how a player comes and how a player’s mindset is and everything is important to how they perform. You can’t think it’s just bat and ball because it’s not just bat and ball. We work in a factory or office, the working conditions have to be good. So you have to take into consideration everything around working in that office or factory. Same out here.

When a young cricketer comes in, do you need to get him abreast with the entire situation or do you just let him play cricket.

What we are failing to realize is that these young players now are a lot more clued up with what’s happening because of social media. Much more than we were. So we don’t have to say anything. They know. We are trying to get them to play cricket, and that’s my job to get them to perform on the field. They see everything and hear everything.

Without wanting to dampen the moment, how much does not being part of the next ICC event hurt?

It’s not nice because we know we are one of the best teams in the world and as long as we have our best team out there we are going to start going up the table so that this will never happen again. That’s how you have to look at it now.