HEAD coach Stuart Law says hosts West Indies can use the three-match One Day International series with Bangladesh as a useful learning curve ahead of next year’s World Cup.

England and Wales are hosting the quadrennial one-day tournament and Law revealed yesterday during an interview with local media, that the series is a great opportunity for his side to hone their skills further ahead of the mega-event, as they bid to be crowned world champions for a third time.

“The series is definitely a preparation for the World Cup, since we have some 16 games before the mega event. It’s a long series, a long summer, plus the rest of the year we have a lot of cricket to play, so the opportunity is there for them to showcase their skills,” Law said.

The Windies are definitely on a high after winning both Tests against the same opponents in six days combined, but Law admitted his side needed to lift their 50-over cricket and he hoped the series would help them to not only find a winning combination but also the momentum going into next year’s World Cup, which the Caribbean side won in 1975 and 1979.

Bangladesh may have lagged behind, and are at an all-time low in confidence after their humbling defeats by the hosts, but they have enjoyed considerable success in limited-overs cricket.

To this end, Law believes that the good firepower by the hosts will definitely give the tourists a lot to think about.

“No series is easy but the Test matches gave us some extra time, since both games finished inside three days, so the momentum is there,” Law pointed out.

Law was in high praise for young Keemo Paul and Shimron Hetmyer, whom he said are good signs for West Indies cricket

Windies and Bangladesh square off tomorrow for the first ODI, which mark the return of international cricket to Guyana since April 2017, where the Caribbean side lost the three-match ODI series 1-2 to Pakistan.

The second ODI is scheduled for Wednesday, a day/night affair, the first in Guyana. Bangladesh last toured the Caribbean in August/September in 2014 when the hosts swept the Tests and ODIs before the lone T20 was abandoned due to rain.