Stone pelting incident is behind us: Sammy

West Indies captain Darren Sammy on Thursday said they have left behind the stone pelting incident in Dhaka and are focused on Friday's clash against the ever improving Ireland, which has the potential to create another upset in the World Cup.

The Caribbean players were victim to an unfortunate incident when some disgruntled Bangladeshi fans threw stones at their team bus after West Indies mauled the co-hosts by nine wickets in Mirpur.

But Sammy said the incident is a thing of past now and the team is now focusing on putting up consistent performances in the game's flagship event.

"It's behind us. The coach (Ottis Gibson) had a say on that and it's an issue we have put to rest. It was quite an unfortunate thing to happen but we are over that and the guys are geared up to face Ireland tomorrow," Sammy told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

"We have already seen an upset and might see some more as the tournament progresses. So it is important that we stick to our basics. Consistency is very important in this tournament going forward. We had two convincing wins so we will be riding on that, take the positives and put into the next game."

Even though they are considered minnows of world cricket, Ireland have impressed all and sundry with their impressive showing in the World Cup so far, which include a stunning upset over England. And Sammy said the West Indies cannot afford to take them lightly on Friday.

"We are focusing on them (Ireland). We never took them for granted. We have a lot of respect for them as a team but at the end of the day we know what we are capable of doing as a team. We will go out there and execute our team plans as far as possible," the West Indies skipper said.

"We played them in the Jamaica festival in 2010 and we had the better result. I know a quite a few guys as well but obviously it's a team that is constantly improving. But we will stick to our strengths and apply pressure on them. We have seen what they are capable of doing," he added.

Sammy said in spite of all the adversities in the tournament, the West Indies have always stuck together as a unit and it has paid rich dividends for the side.

"One good thing about West Indies as a team is that we always had good camaraderie. We always fight together far away from home, so we are always like a family on tours. Last few days have been up and down but we stuck together as a team. "We have been managing the side distractions quite well. We control what we can. We are here to play cricket and the higher administration is there to handle the side distractions," he said.

For a decade the West Indies cricket has witnessed a downward trend and expectations back home are high that the Sammy-led side would be able to reverse the Caribbean team's fortune in spite of missing a few players in the squad, including inspirational vice-captain Dwayne Bravo, Adrian Barath and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh.

"The past decade has not been the best for us. We are aware what cricket means to the Caribbean people. But slowly we all are getting on board. We know how prestigious this tournament is and we are going to take step by step," Sammy said.

"Ups and downs are a constant reminder to us as to what we need to do in the field. So all this motivation and inspiration are making the team perform," he added. With strong opposition in India and England in the offing, Sammy said the West Indies need to grab their opportunities in matches.

"Against South Africa we knew we went wrong. We were in a good position. We created opportunities but could not grab them. So, obviously when we play against higher rank teams and find ourselves in a position to effect a result in our favour, we need to make full use of it," he stressed.

He also said that the team is in constant touch with Dwayne Bravo, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury he sustained during their seven-wicket loss to South Africa in the opening match.

"We all are in contact with Dwayne. His surgery went quite well and from the reports we have he will be back sooner than we expected. His spirits still lies in the team and he always checks upon us. Losing him was a massive disappointment. He is an inspiration on the field and his spirit is moving us forward," Sammy said.