BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

West Indies team manager Tony Howard said Monday the regional side was showing gradual improvement, but needed to be more consistent.

He was speaking after the team returned from the tour of Pakistan where they lost the three-match Test series 2-0, and were felled 3-1 in the five-match One-Day series. The opening match was rained out.

Howard said he also wanted the team to learn from the lessons they gained while in Pakistan over the last six weeks, so they could be a force in next year's Cricket World Cup.

"We have to be thinking always, and we have to be more consistent if we want to be among the major teams in the World Cup," Howard told reporters at the Grantley Adams International Airport.

"We reached two finals and we were not altogether bad in Pakistan. There was a time, not long ago, when we were not winning anything.

Improving

"We did not just win our matches, but we beat some of the 'big' teams. That must mean something. That means we are improving gradually, but we need to be more consistent."

Howard praised middle-order batsman Marlon Samuels for his century in the fourth ODI, but said the Jamaican also needed to be more consistent.

"We know Marlon can be a quality player and it was a brilliant innings. He played really well and we won that match in style," Howard said. "What is now required is that he gives us a major knock once every four innings, not once every four years. That's what we're looking for."