The Caribbean team has endured a disappointing few months on the back of a disastrous showing at the T20 World Cup, followed by defeats in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
A few of the team’s most experienced players have retired following a lackluster showing at the World Cup and the team did not select a few other regulars for the tour of Pakistan. Despite a 3-0 T20 series loss in Pakistan, Simmons was encouraged by the team’s fervor.
“The way we started in Pakistan is the way we want to play now, have a lot more energy, more enthusiasm,” Simmons told members of the media earlier this week.
“It's a young group of guys and we are trying to mould them and get them into a winning frame of mind. We want to win, and we want to do everything that it takes to win,” he added.
The team will see the likes of Brandon King and Odean Smith returning a potential debut for Justin Greaves and spinner Gudakesh Motie set to earn a second cap.
The ODI format has been the team’s least productive over the last few years, having won just 9 of 51 series played in the last 10 years, which amounts to a 17 percent win rate. In the last three consecutive series, the regional team has failed to win a game after being swept aside 3-0 by Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India.
In three of the last four matches against Bangladesh and then India, however, the team at least managed to put in strong batting performances despite losing the match.
“The first two games we batted the 50 overs and looked like we understood what batting 50 overs was about. I think that’s a step forward and we will just have to keep trying to move forward with that,” Simmons told members of the media on Wednesday.
“The bowlers have been doing it in a few games and not the batsmen. Now it’s turned around. So, we’ve got to get everything together. The one plus is that the fielding keeps getting better and better, so we have to put everything together,” he added.
“Everything takes time, the guys have been playing together more and more and we are having a squad play together more and more. That’s what happened with the Test team, the guys played together for a while and now we are seeing the fruits of that. Let’s see what happens with the ODI team.”
The regional team has endured a particularly wretched run of form across all formats in recent months. A poor showing at the T20 World Cup saw the two-time champions embarrassingly eliminated in the first round of the competition after loses to Scotland and Ireland.
In the aftermath, Simmons, and, then later team captain Nicholas Pooran, resigned their positions. The Test team then traveled to Australia to face the home team in a two-match series where they were badly outplayed. In the second Test, for instance, the team lost by a massive 419 runs after being bowled out for 77.
In light of such performances, Murray believes there needs to be many more changes at the broader management level than just Simmons, if the team is to truly start moving forward.
“I want to commend Phil Simmons he has done the honourable thing.
He was responsible for the team when we did not qualify for the T20 World cup and he did the hourrable thing,” Murray told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“We should not assume for one minute, however, that one man, Philip Simmons, is responsible for the decline, for the losses of West Indies cricket," he added.
“I keep looking to see others follow suite but nothing like that has happened…”
Murray went on to state that he believed the entire government system surrounding the sport in the region needed to change.
176, 193 and 169 were the scores the Caribbean side managed to put up during the series and Head Coach Phil Simmons, speaking in the post-series press conference on Friday, says this trend is concerning.
“It needs urgent attention. It cost us the last two games. If you bowl India out for 230 and 260, you expect to chase it,” he said.
The West Indies, not too long ago, showed improvement in their batting performances in ODIs, particularly in Sri Lanka’s tour of the West Indies in early 2021 which saw the regional side make scores of 236-2, 274-5 and 276-5 in the three matches.
“Just under a year ago, we were cruising to 280 and 290 against Sri Lanka who has similar spinners so the batting is a huge concern and people have got to stand up now as we go into our next set of ODIs in June,” Simmons added.
On a more positive note, Simmons praised the performance of his bowlers in the series.
“I think a positive is that the bowlers have done what we’ve asked of them. We’ve kept a strong India batting line-up to 230 and 260 and I think that’s a huge positive. The way how we’ve gone about our task on the field when bowling and fielding have been a huge positive all-round,” he added.
The West Indies will play India in three T20Is beginning on Wednesday while their next ODI assignment will be a three-match tour of the Netherlands in June.
After a 20-run victory on Wednesday, the Caribbean side now leads the series 2-1 with the chance to take an unassailable 3-1 lead on Saturday.
West Indies head coach Phil Simmons says that even with a series win in sight, he is focused on how the team is playing.
“Saturday, if we win the game we’ll win the series so yes, I’d be happy, but I’m happier now with the way that the players are taking on board how we want to play going forward,” Simmons said in a press conference today.
With the ICCT20 World Cup a few months away, the emphasis for the former Ireland and Afghanistan head coach is for the two-time champions to have a much-improved performance from the disaster of the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup in the UAE where they won only one of their five group matches and crashed out of the tournament.
“Winning as a whole is a great thing for any team so it’s something that we’re happy with, but for me, at this point in time, it’s about building back the team because at the end of the day, October is another T20 World Cup and, especially with our performances in the last one, we want to get back up to where we normally are. I’m looking at the quality of the cricket we’re playing and how we’re improving rather than just a series win,” Simmons said.
The former West Indies player also commented on Rovman Powell’s brilliant maiden T20 hundred.
“I think it was a brilliant innings from the start. The way he assessed the situation at the beginning is something that we’ve been talking about as a group and I’ve been looking forward to someone doing that in a match and he did that. We’re moving in the right direction,” Simmons added.
It was tough going on day one of the first tour match, for a Windies bowling unit that included top strike bowlers Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, and Alzarri Joseph. Of the trio, Joseph was the only one to take a wicket in the first innings as New Zealand A put on 308 for 3 before declaring. Gabriel did claim a wicket in the second innings of the drawn match.
The coach, however, believes the consistent threat of the bowling unit over the past several years speaks for itself and remained more concerned about the team's batting, which has been far less assured during the same time period.
“Over the years we have seen that the bowling has been our strength,” Simmons told members of the media from New Zealand on Tuesday.
“If in these two matches, the one that’s gone and the one tomorrow, the batsmen can get into form and get into the line that we want them to, I’m not worried about the bowlers. The bowlers are always up to the task in the Test matches for a few years now,” he added.
Led by a century from returning batsman Darren Bravo the West Indies did put in a solid performance with the bat after scoring 366 in their first innings.
The West Indies are looking to defend their hold on the Wisden Trophy in a three-Test series against England beginning July 8 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
During a press conference, earlier today, head coach Phil Simmons, had said he would be using the three-day warm-up to focus on two things in particular.
One; whether or not Gabriel was fit enough to last the tour, and two; what a batting line-up without Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer might look like.
As such, Brathwaite, the team’s long-time vice-captain, will have for company, his opening partner John Campbell, Shai Hope, Roston Chase, and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich as batsmen, while Raymon Reifer holds down the all-rounder role in the team.
Brathwaite also has a formidable bowling attack with young Chemar Holder, Anderson Phillip, Keon Harding, Oshane Thomas and Marquino Mindley to choose four from.
Holder will lead a team that includes the returning Jermaine Blackwood and Sunil Ambris, as well as Nkrumah Bonner. He also has to guide some newcomers in Joshua DaSilva, and Kyle Mayers.
There is also the newby in Preston McSween, who might get a game, but the skipper may choose to go with the experience of Kemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel up front, backed up by the offspin of Rahkeem Cornwall and Alzarri Joseph.
The last time the West Indies and England met, the latter, who were visiting the Caribbean, failed to hold on to the Wisden Trophy after suffering a 2-1 defeat.
Captain Joe Root has said his side would love to take revenge and take back the Wisden Trophy, but the visitors are confident they can give a good account of themselves, even without some of their stars and in English conditions.
Hope, widely agreed to be one of the region’s most talented batsmen, was dropped from the team after a poor run of form in November of last year. Chase, the consistent all-rounder, at the same time replaced Kraigg Brathwaite as vice-captain ahead of the New Zealand series.
Both players were called to the team ahead of the Bangladesh series but were among 12 players to decline due to health and safety concerns.
Hope has since returned to the ODI squad, where he looked to be in strong form. Chase, who initially missed out on the minimum fitness requirement ahead of the series, put on a strong display in the warm-up tour matches. Both players remain on the sideline, so far. For now, according to Simmons, however, the current players are doing well enough to keep their places.
“The guys who played in the Test matches have done well, so we need to continue to back the guys who have done well in the last three Test matches,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom press conference.
“The way I look at it is the guys did well. The guys went to Bangladesh, each one of the batsmen did well. They earned their places. So, it is a case where they continue to play and play well,” he added.
“Roston, Shai, those other players will have to fight their way back in, and that just how cricket goes.”
Hope had scores of 16 and nine in the first Test the West Indies won by four wickets in Southampton before scoring 25 and seven in a 113-run defeat in Manchester.
Hope, since scoring back-to-back hundreds against England in 2017, has only managed to get past 50 on four occasions, even as he faced the music 39 times.
“I am concerned. He has now gone some four innings without a score and in contrast to how he played over the last four months, five, six months in the other formats, I am concerned about his form and we will be sitting down and chatting about that,” said Simmons.
The coach, who was speaking in a press conference after the West Indies defeat by England in the second Test at Old Trafford, was referencing Hope’s phenomenal year with the bat as an ODI player.
In Hope’s last 10 ODI innings, he has scored three centuries, and three half-centuries, including 115, 51 and 72 in his last three innings against Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Simmons has said it was too early to decide on whether or not Hope would be dropped for the third Test or if another role in the batting line-up would suit him more.
The West Indies men’s team, which is coached by former player Phil Simmons, has been plagued by poor performances in recent months. At the T20 World Cup the team, who entered the tournament as defending champions, were less than inspiring and crashed out after finishing 5th in Group 1 after winning just one match and losing four.
The performance was followed by lopsided defeats in Sri Lanka for the Test team and Pakistan. The Women’s team, who appointed former fast bowler Courtney Walsh two years ago after a string of poor results, have in the meantime won two of their last three series.
“We’ve got to start calling on the coaches a bit more in my opinion for performances, and to have a level at some point regarding performances, where you’d say that last year we were here at that level and where we want to be next year, so I am looking for stuff like that sort of improvement,” Richards recently told the Good Morning Jojo radio program.
“I think I am looking for that sort of improvement, which I am not seeing at the moment,” he said.
At the same time, the former player, known as the Master Blaster in his prime, also believes that there was also the need for more transparency and equality as it relates to players' selection based on fitness standards.
“There are times we play to people’s affairs and not overall in terms of the team in itself because no one or two or three individuals make up a team in itself. It’s about the solidness, and everyone being on board, and just how you dish out the treatment, I think it needs to be a little fairer in my opinion. It gives everyone an opportunity and where the fitness is concerned, that seems to be lacking for years now,” he said.
The victory came on Sunday morning – the fourth day of the third Apex Test at the Grenada National Stadium. With the superb 1-0 series result, Captain Kraigg Brathwaite became the first man to lift the newly-minted Richards-Botham trophy.
In the aftermath of the victory, CWI President, Ricky Skerritt, congratulated the team on its superb performances against the traditional archrivals on home soil.
“On behalf of CWI and the West Indies supporters around the world, I want to express heartfelt congratulations to Captain Kraigg Brathwaite, head coach Phil Simmons, and the entire team on what were truly outstanding efforts from start to finish,” Skerritt said.
“It was a remarkable three weeks of cricket which saw our team battle hard to earn draws in the first and second matches. Then, with all to play for, they seized every opportunity in the final match to triumph in style. This will put smiles on the faces of West Indies fans everywhere are we lift the fabulous Richards-Botham trophy for the first time.”
The first two matches in Antigua and Barbados ended in draws, which set up the decider in Grenada, which West Indies won by 10 wickets, with Brathwaite hitting the winning runs before lunch.
Stokes slammed four fours and three sixes to lead England to 129-3 from just 19 overs of batting. The innings gave England two things, runs and time.
It made sure they got 85 overs to bowl at the West Indies, as well as a fair number of runs to act as a buffer in case they couldn’t get 10 wickets.
Speaking about the innings, West Indies coach, Phil Simmons, said he was not surprised, but he was disappointed because the West Indies got a chance to stop the carnage early out.
When Stokes was on 29, John Campbell, fielding at deep extra-cover, floored a chance off Shannon Gabriel, that may have changed the course of the game.
“The thing about him is that we know he can do that. And if you go out and drop him within six balls of the start, well then you’ve got problems then,” said Simmons.
“I think it was our doing that he got the opportunity to go on and show what he’s made of and we know what he’s made of.”
England, thanks to an all-round bowling performance would go on to win by 113 runs, bowling out the West Indies for 198, with Shamarh Brooks, 62, Jermaine Blackwood, 55, and Jason Holder, 35, the main contributors.
The #raisethebat Series for the Wisden Trophy now lies at 1-1 with the series decider on Friday at the same venue.
The West Indies began day five of the second Test with the ball and a 214-run deficit, but were quickly put under pressure by the big-hitting Ben Stokes, whose, quickfire unbeaten 78 ballooned that lead to 311 with just 11 overs played.
Then Stuart Broad, 3-42, Chris Woakes, 2-34, Dom Bess, 2-59, Stokes, 2-30, and Sam Curran, 1-30, combined to dismiss the West Indies for 198.
“I think in the five days we played some good cricket,” said Simmons.
“For me, we lost control of the game in five or six overs with the new ball yesterday evening,” he said.
At the time Simmons referenced, the West Indies, in their first innings, replying to England’s 469, were 240-4 when things fell apart very quickly.
“We were in a place where we were in a good position to bat through the day and through some of today and close off the game, but a spell from Broad there is where we lost the game. We lost our way there and we couldn’t hold it back,” said Simmons.
Otto played 48 first-class matches for the Leeward Islands between 1979 and 1990. During that period, he scored 2550 runs that included six centuries and 12 50s at an average of 34.00.
The right-handed batsman was the vice-captain of the West Indies ‘B’ that toured Zimbabwe in 1986. Former West Indies batsman Carlyle Best was the captain of that team that included Jimmy Adams and Carl Hooper who would both go on to become captains of the West Indies team, Phil Simmons, David Williams, Julian Charles, Javon Etienne and Vibert Greene among others.
A cousin to West Indies fast-bowling great Sir Curtly Ambrose, Otto would go on to manage the Leeward Islands team. He also managed the Antigua and Barbuda team that participated in the Stanford 20/20 tournament in 2008.
Partnered with man-of-the-match Rovman Powell, Pooran put on a near-perfect display, a combination of power-hitting, game management, and finesse. The batsman put together a crucial 70 from 43 deliveries, which formed part of a match-winning 122 partnership for the third wicket.
Simmons admits the knock was a good illustration of the type of role the team envisions the batsman is capable of playing.
“It’s been a plan since World Cup. As we saw, he is understanding his role better and better and yesterday (Wednesday) just showed exactly how we see him controlling the innings,” Simmons told members of the media on Wednesday.
“His communication and control with Rovman was a big plus yesterday,” he added.
Pooran came to the crease following the departure of Brandon King and was part of a 37-run partnership with Shai Hope before joining forces with Powell.
In total, Pooran has played 14 matches batting at the number three position, scoring a total of 356 runs, and has averaged 32.36 so far.
The 31-year-old Bravo, along with Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul, declined not to take part in the team’s tour of England earlier this year, citing health concerns due to the ongoing pandemic.
Despite winning the first Test with a commendable performance, the West Indies batting line-up went through its typical struggles in the next two, as the series went to England 2-1. The West Indies's batting performance in the England series was among their worst on tour since 2000, with the top-6 averaging just 28.66 and no century in the entire three-game series.
With such performances, it is little wonder Simmons is excited to get back a couple of his key batsmen. He is confident Bravo and Hetmyer can make a difference.
“He’s (Bravo) has always been important, to the Test team especially, and it’s good to have him and Shimron back in the squad,” Simmons told members of the media on Friday.
“Where the batting is concerned it will be pressure on people to hold their places, in order to hold their places, they will have to score runs and that is a big plus for us,” he added.
“He is a huge plus for us in these situations. He has done well here. He is one of the only batsmen that have high averages in international cricket, so he knows what it takes to score big runs at this level so it’s good to have him back.”
It was the first time since 2012, that West Indies batsmen have been able to achieve that feat and only the second time since 1995.
Brathwaite, who started off the series with scores of three and 23 in the first Test, finished strong with his ninth Test century, 126, and a second innings score of 85 that spiralled his average in the series to an excellent 59.25.
Kyle Mayers, perhaps the most consistent of the West Indies batsmen had scores of 49, 55, 45 and 52 for an overall average of 50.25.
Incidentally, these were the two lowest averages of the five batsmen. Nkrumah Bonner, who scored his first Test century in the series, 113 not out, averaged 72 while Jason Holder averaged 69 after scoring 71 not out, 30, 19 and 18 not out.
Rahkeem Cornwall had only two turns at-bat and he made them count. His 61 and 73 gave him an average of 67, to round out an impressive all-round performance from the West Indies despite the fact that they were unable to force a win in any of the two Tests.
Simmons, though, was pleased with what he observed.
“Everybody is looking to occupy the crease. People are working to bat for long periods and our depth goes deeper because Alzarri Joseph and Rahkeem Cornwall have shown within the last three series that they can bat and they can provide that 50-100-run partnerships that later down can take us to 350 to 400s,” said the West Indies head coach.
He was particularly pleased with Cornwall’s performance with the bat. Already, a crucial member of the bowling attack, Cornwall enhanced his reputation as a genuine allrounder.
“It was great to see Rahkeem’s batting coming to the fore, and in all, the batting has shown up in the last four Test matches and this is a great thing because, before that, the bowling was carrying us,” Simmons said.
The last time the West Indies had five batsmen averaging over 50 in a Test series was back in 2012, when Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieran Powell and Denesh Ramdin all surpassed the milestone. Chanderpaul averaged over 300 for the series.
Before that, six West Indies batsmen - Chanderpaul, Junior Murray, Winston Benjamin, Jimmy Adams, Brian Lara and Sherwin Campbell - all averaged over 50 runs an innings against New Zealand in 1995.
Holder last played for the Windies in the shortest format of the game in India last year. Recently, however, since the resumption of cricket following an enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic, he has put in a few notable T20 performances. In the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Holder was the Barbados Tridents' third-highest scorer with 192 runs in 10 matches and had a high score of 69. He also made an impact with the ball after claiming 10 wickets, the second-most on the team.
Despite not being initially drafted to the Indian Premier League (IPL), Holder was called up to replace Mitchell Marsh by Sunrisers Hyderabad where he has made a big impact. The player has, however, not been included in the T20 squad to face New Zealand later this month.
Simmons, however, pointed to scheduling being more of a factor than anything else for the Holder's omission.
“This is an odd tour. The T20 series here finishes a day, two days before the Test match. Being captain of the Test team, the decision was taken by us as a selection panel that Jason would not be considered for that part of the tour,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom interview on Friday.
"Seeing that he is coming from IPL now, he will have one chance to play in the four-day game before the Test match, so that decision was taken by the panel,” he added.
"Jason is always in consideration for the T20s. He has had two good years at CPL and now he has had a good tournament at IPL.”
Holder did not bowl on Thursday when his team fielded for the second innings of the match. He was also not required to bat. However, head coach Phil Simmons offered assurances that the allrounder would be fine.
"Jason has had a slight niggle on his ankle and that is what has held him back from bowling,” Simmons said. “He will be back to bowling in the four-day game and should be bowling his full quota. As for the batting, if you get one ball and you’re out, that’s all you can do.”
Simmons also provided some positive news on fast bowler Shannon Gabriel who is returning to first-team action following ankle surgery.
“He looks ready, that was evident here. When you see how he bowled in the first innings, then again yesterday (Wednesday) and even more so this morning (Thursday) you could see he's close to 100 per cent. Now we want to get him up to 100 just before the Test match.”
West Indies will have a four-day warm-up match starting June 30 at Emirates Old Trafford, before they travel down to Southampton for the first match at the Ageas Bowl, starting July 8.
