NOTTINGHAM, England – Regardless of struggling a heavy defeat by an innings and 114 runs within the first Take a look at at Lord’s, West Indies head coach Andre Coley stays optimistic about his younger squad’s skill to compete with England.
The Caribbean aspect, which crumbled within three days in the opening Test, is getting ready for the second Take a look at at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Coley emphasised the significance of maximizing their potential in batting, bowling, and fielding, and constructing on the positives from the preliminary loss.
Lengthen longer partnerships
“You must look to increase or prolong a few of these performances from the opening Take a look at, particularly from a batting standpoint,” Coley said. “[We need to] prolong longer partnerships. When gamers work arduous and get in, it’s essential they take duty and bat deep into the innings. Sure, we all know the situations shall be testing—that’s why it’s referred to as a Take a look at match—and we’re not taking part in at dwelling, so situations shall be totally different, however we’ve the potential to be at our greatest and compete with England.”
– Commercial –
Coley additionally identified that the West Indies bowlers had their moments throughout the first Take a look at, forcing England to indicate grit and utility at instances. “From a bowling standpoint, England couldn’t simply run away with scoring. There have been durations within the recreation the place they needed to actually work arduous. Jayden Seales, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph together with his tempo again up, and Gudakesh Motie, who performed a incredible position, particularly getting the important thing wicket of Ben Stokes, all had constructive contributions,” he defined.
Within the first Take a look at, the West Indies had been bowled out for a mere 121 of their first innings, setting themselves up for a 250-run deficit after England scored 371 in reply. The second innings noticed little enchancment, as they had been dismissed for 136 earlier than lunch on the third day.
Extra depth
Coley confused the necessity for higher effort and depth within the subject to problem England within the remaining video games. “I’d like to see us with much more depth that we’re identified for within the subject. On this Take a look at match, we weren’t at our greatest by way of imposing ourselves on the England batters. That’s undoubtedly one thing we have to enhance for the following Take a look at,” he stated.
The West Indies have confronted comparable challenges earlier than. In January, they misplaced the opening Take a look at in Adelaide by 10 wickets however bounced again to win the ultimate recreation of the two-match collection towards Australia by eight runs. Coley believes this expertise can function a motivator for the workforce.
“They’d’ve taken a whole lot of positives from that have. The method we went via to bounce again may be very highly effective. It reinforces the truth that in a collection, you won’t begin properly however can nonetheless compose your self, come again, and be aggressive, probably establishing for a game-three decider. There are actual positives to take not solely from the primary Take a look at right here but additionally from our experiences over the past six months,” Coley concluded.
