Head coach Phil Simmons said the World Test Championship (WTC) is "extremely important" for the West Indies, particularly to drive the interest back in the Caribbean for the traditional format, even as the newly-elected ICC chairman, Greg Barclay, raised doubts over the future of the nine-team league.

Saying the ambitious Test championship hasn't quite achieved the goal of rejuvenating interest in international red-ball cricket, Barclay hinted the ongoing cycle of the tournament could well also be its last. 

Read Also: ICC chairman Greg Barclay says World Test Championship hasn't achieved its goal 

He did acknowledge, though, the ongoing pandemic has certainly played a part in highlighting the concept's "shortcomings". 

"It's (WTC) extremely significant," ESPNcricinfo quoted Simmons as saying. "I think it's a format that we haven't done well in for a long time and we're trying to get ourselves back into the higher ends of the table where Test cricket is concerned and because of that initially, we want to do that in the Test Championship but at the same time, we want to be winners in Test cricket itself. So, it's important for us."

West Indies are currently third from the bottom in the rejigged Test championship points table with a solitary win from five outings.  

The visitors will be entering the two-Test series against the Kiwis on Thursday (December 3) after starting off the tour with a disappointing 2-0 loss in T20Is, considered their best format. 

Simmons, however, said there isn't much to read into T20I results when it comes to the Test matches. 

"The T20s and Tests are different," he said. "The Test team has done well in Queenstown and have enjoyed a tough four-day game and they are now coming into the Test series with some confidence especially the batsmen who haven't had that for a while."

"So, I think the Test team is in a good place. Disappointed with the T20s, but moving onto the Test series now."

"I think it was a good thing we had to do 14 days in which we practiced and then we had a three-day and four-day game."

"Some of the young players who haven't been here have gotten a little bit accustomed to Test-cricket conditions here which, I think, is going to be similar from where we were to here," Simmons added. 

"I think they will offer a lot of mental strength having gone through the period that we went through there. We are going to push hard for them to put up the score they put up in the last four-day game."

(Inputs from ANI)