“Each game has a situation. Every ball is a situation in the game, and we’ve got to be able to assess that situation and know how we have to play in that game. If you’re 20-3 you play differently than if you’re 40-0. These are the little situations that we need to highlight and win and that will take us to winning the game,” he said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Simmons also explained that the return of the West Indies to the pinnacle of world cricket will only come with a focus on development at all levels.
“Definitely things need to be changed at different levels. You don’t become bad batsmen at this level,” he said.
He continued on, saying that responsibility lies with coaches at all levels to see to the development of players in the region.
“You come up here thinking you are able to play up here, but things are not going the way they should do so there must be some sort of responsibility taken from the levels before us and that’s something that has to be addressed, generally, as an organization,” Simmons added.
With that said, Simmons also acknowledged that once players get to the international level, they also have a part to play.
“In saying that, the guys, when they come up here, need to fight harder. They need to put more effort into wanting to be the best in the world when they come up here,” he added.
The West Indies will play five T20 Internationals against England in Barbados starting on January 22.
“I think the message is for us to play a complete game and not just bowl well, or bat well, or field well and finish the series 3-0, because 3-0 is always better than 2-1.
The West Indies took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series on Thursday when they inched over the line in a one-wicket victory at Kensington Oval. At the same venue, the West Indies had shown chinks in their armour in a more dominant display, running out five-wicket winners on that occasion.
Alzarri Joseph had earned man-of-the-match honours in both games, bagging 4-37 and 4-32 to keep the West Indies’ targets relatively low.
“I’m happy with Alzarri, not just on the pitch but the way he prepares, the way he talks about cricket and about bowling. He seems to be maturing very quickly and it showed in the two games and the way he bowled,” said Simmons regarding those two performances.
Despite the good bowling of the West Indies, the batting has left much to be desired with only Evin Lewis, 99 not out, and Nicholas Pooran, 52, showing a real willingness to bat deep into an innings.
“That’s the crux of the matter here. We need to finish well and play a properly constructed, complete, 100 overs,” said Simmons.
Pollard had been a little more caustic, saying the West Indies top order needed to stop wasting good form with poor approaches to batting.
“We can’t continue to just give away our hand just like that when you have form and confidence because it will come back to bite you,” said Pollard, who seemed to be wagging his finger at the talented Shimron Hetmyer.
Hetmyer had lost his wicket for six, having faced just six deliveries before firing an injudicious pull shot that landed safely in the gloves of Irish wicketkeeper, Lorcan Tucker.
“The batsmen need to go back to what we were doing in India and how we were putting scores together, creating a platform for the big hitters down the bottom. We need to make sure that we do that in this coming game,” said Simmons.
Several members of the T20 squad including Fabian Allen, Kieron Pollard, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul, Oshane Thomas, Nicholas Pooran, and Jaspon Holder, are expected to arrive in New Zealand near mid-November to join the touring party that arrived in New Zealand late last week. The players were engaged in the ongoing IPL tournament that concludes on November 10.
Pooran's time in the IPL will be winding down soon after his KXIP team were eliminated from playoff contention after losing to CSK earlier today.
Notwithstanding, for those playing in the international T20 series, it means they will be quarantined for two weeks and will only be cleared to play just prior to the start of the series on November 27.
However, Simmons, the West Indies head coach, is optimistic that the period of inactivity will have that much of an impact of the late-arriving players.
“The plus about that is that they are coming from playing in a high-quality tournament so they will be sharp. The guys that are with us, we have to get them up to that level so when we meet on as a full squad everyone is on the same page,” he said.
In the first innings, Brathwaite made 94 off 268 balls, batting for 400 minutes in the process.
“There’s not much to tell as a batsman because I think everybody’s seen his determination and unique style,” Simmons said in an interview after the match.
“He doesn’t have a problem being there for five days and doing his job which is unique because a lot of batsmen nowadays want to play shots and be done with it but, from his point of view, he wants to be there all the time for his team and that rolls into the captaincy,” he added.
Since being named permanent Captain in March 2021, Brathwaite has led the team to a series win against England and drawn series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“He seems to be growing into the role as we go along,” Simmons said.
“He’s not loud but the players know what he wants in his unique way. He makes them understand what he wants from them,” he added.
Brathwaite’s next assignment will be to lead the team to victory in the second test against Bangladesh which begins on Friday at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St. Lucia.
Returning Windies fast bowler Shannon Gabriel secured a 9-wicket haul, with Jermaine Blackwood crafting a well-earned and crucial second innings knock of 95 as the team registered a 4 wicket win for a 1-0 series lead in Southampton last week. Blackwood, who faced 154 balls and anchored the regional team’s innings, seemed well on the way to securing a second Test century, but was caught by James Anderson off the bowling of stand-in captain Ben Stokes. In the first innings, Kraigg Brathwaite battled to 65, with Shane Dowrich getting 61.
For the second Test, Simmons, who insists the Windies will have no room for complacency, pointed out that the aim is to see similar scores transformed to centuries.
“The fact that we had two guys getting 60s and a couple of guys getting 40s it was disappointing to not go on to score 100s. I like to see 100s on my scorecard at the end of an innings,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom conference call on Tuesday.
“I think that is one of the areas we need to improve on. If one of the guys who had scored 60 went on to score 100, the game might have been easier for us at the end, so we have to make sure that batsmen score big 100s and take games away from the opposition,” he added.
The West Indies are in England to play in a historical Bio-secure Test series against England for The Wisden Trophy and Gabriel made the squad after a long injury layoff.
According to West Indies coach Phil Simmons, Gabriel is being carefully led back into the rigours of international cricket and will likely be a part of the 14-man squad on tour, rather than in the reserves.
“Shannon has been named in the reserves. Yes, he is one of West Indies’ prominent fast bowlers but coming back from injury and we just have to make sure that especially that he was fit enough to go through the tour,” said Simmons.
At this stage, Gabriel is still not an automatic pick, but Simmons believes there is every chance he will play some part in the tour.
“There is a possibility of Shannon Gabriel joining the touring party of 14,” said Simmons.
Gabriel has not played since September of 2019 after a brief spell with Gloucestershire. The pacer’s sidelining came after an ankle injury that required surgery.
The last time Gabriel faced England, he helped the Caribbean side win back the Wisden Trophy in a 2-1 series win where he bowled with real menace, spilling over into a verbal exchange with England captain Joe Root.
According to Gabriel, that instance, for which he was suspended for five One-Day Internationals, is in the past.
Test Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach
Reserve Players: Sunil Ambris, Joshua DaSilva, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Harding, Kyle Mayers, Preston McSween, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Anderson Phillip, Oshane Thomas, Jomel Warrican
The team has experienced mixed results since the duo took charge, with Simmons taking the reins in September of last year and Pollard taking charge of the ODI and T20 teams the following month. Simmons previously served as head coach of the regional team in 2015 and led the Windies to their second T20 World title the following year.
Though the team is yet to put together a strong string of positive results, as they were most recently swept aside by Sri Lanka in three one day internationals, Ramnarine believes the youthful Windies squad has the ingredients to eventually get things right.
“Talent has always been there, no question about that. It takes time to groom them,” Ramnarine told the Sportstar.
“Governance is one aspect always been lacking significantly in sports generally, we in the West Indies have our own share of not-so-good people. The current captain Kieron Pollard, whom I know well, is a fantastic leader. He and Phil Simmons (head coach) bring a lot of positive things to the game, these are good guys. With time, these two have the ability, the skill and leadership to transform cricket in the West Indies.”
Simmons tendered his resignation on Saturday, sources said, and it is expected to take effect in January 2023 as his contract requires that he give his employers 12 weeks’ notice.
The timing of the resignation comes at an inopportune time as the West Indies are scheduled to Australia for two Tests in late November. The team begins with a four-day pink-ball match from November 23-26. The first Test bowls off on November 30.
Simmons was appointed head coach in 2019 shortly after Ricky Skerritt and Dr Kishore Shallow came to power at Cricket West Indies Annual General Meeting in Kingston. Since then, West Indies have fared poorly in international competition.
The team is currently ranked eighth in Tests, ninth in ODIs and seventh in T20I.
At the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, the West Indies won one match before bowing out of the competition. Then just last week, at the 2022 competition, the West Indies put in an even more disappointing performance, failing to get to the Super 12 round for the first time ever having lost their opening match by 42 runs to Scotland before being dumped out of the competition following a humiliating nine-wicket loss to Ireland in the qualifying round.
Following the nine-wicket drubbing, the CWI boss laid the blame squarely at the feet at the batsmen while promising to conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons behind the poor showing.
"Untimely shot selections seem to be deeply embedded in the T20 batting culture of our senior team," the CWI president said.
Australian captain and great Ricky Ponting called the showing “embarrassing”.
Gayle, 42, was a controversial pick for the West Indies selectors with detractors citing his prolonged poor form and age as factors why he should not have been selected. However, Windies selector said Gayle’s experience and leadership were intrinsic factors that made him an asset for the Caribbean side looking to win their third T20 world title on the trot, having won in 2012 and 2016.
During a media session from the United Arab Emirates on Monday, Simmons indicated that more will be asked of the Universe Boss in his final World Cup campaign.
“We have specific roles we have put on Chris and we trust that he is going to be ready and in form and having had a short rest from the game and from the bubble he is going to come back fresh and ready to do what we ask him to do,” Simmons said of Gayle, who left the IPL bubble last month citing bubble fatigue and the need to refresh himself for the world cup.
"Over the last few months, I have been a part of the CWI bubble, CPL bubble followed by the IPL bubble, and I wish to mentally recharge and refresh myself," Gayle said in a statement last month. "I want to refocus on helping the West Indies in the T20 World Cup and would like to take a break in Dubai. My thanks to the Punjab Kings for giving me the time off. My wishes and hopes are with the squad always. All the very best for the games coming up."
Over the past weekend, Gayle posted pictures on Instagram of him enjoying his time off, refreshing himself before returning to action in the world cup.
Gayle had a lukewarm turnout for the Punjab Kings in the 2021 IPL. In 10 matches, the Jamaican star scored 193 runs at an average of 21.85 and strike rate of 125.32. His best score for the Kings was 46.
On the back of a responsible 95 from Windies batsman Jermaine Blackwood, and a 9-wicket haul from pace bowler Shannon Gabriel, the regional team claimed a 1-0 lead after a 4-wicket win in Southampton, on Sunday. With the omission of veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad from the first Test, however, former England captain Nasser Hussain suggested the hosts may have underestimated the West Indies. England instead, opted for a line-up that included Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and James Anderson.
"Hats off to West Indies for a super performance, but I'd like to ask England one question. If this had been the first game of the Ashes, would they have left out Stuart Broad?" Hussain asked in his post-match analysis.
Simmons has, however, refuted any suggestions of underestimation.
“I don’t think so. England is a professional unit and I would not expect that from them. I think they thought on the day they needed to bat first. Maybe they looked at how the match would end, the wicket and how dry it was at the time,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom press conference.
“There are many factors why they could have batted first. I don’t want to speculate but I don’t think they took us for granted,” he added.
“I think there is a choice between five quality bowlers, so one had to sit out. It came to Broad that day but there are three back-to-back Test matches and England has maybe five or six Test matches, so sometimes we think that’s the way we have to go.”
The West Indies and England have had competitive outings in the last two Test match series between the teams. The West Indies also won a Test match, in England, in 2017, before claiming the Wisden Trophy with a 2-1 win over England in the Caribbean last year.
The West Indies are playing in the first bio-secure Test series since the COVID-19 pandemic impacted sports worldwide and Hetmyer, Bravo and Keemo Paul decided against touring England on the back of health concerns.
The absence of the trio means there are questions about how the team will line up but head coach Phil Simmons, speaking during a press conference this morning, believes the answers are to be found in the next few practice games.
According to the coach, who was responding to questions about the batting positions of skipper Jason Holder and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich when the three-Test series begins at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, the options are numerous.
“We have thought about quite a few things. The three-day game which starts tomorrow and then the four-day game will help us to decide how we structure the batting,” said Simmons.
“So there are possibilities in different directions. Jason could bat six, Dowrich could bat six, so we look at the three-day game and the four-day game and then make a decision from there,” he said.
There are also places to be considered with the returning Jermaine Blackwood to the batting line-up along with the likes Shamarh Brooks and Nkrumah Bonner and where they bat, if at all, in the new-look line-up.
The West Indies will play a three-day match game at their Emirates Old Trafford base beginning tomorrow, June 23, before a four-day encounter beginning on June 29.
Test Squad: Jason Holder (captain), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shamarh Brooks, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Rahkeem Cornwall, Shane Dowrich, Chemar Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach
Reserve Players: Sunil Ambris, Joshua DaSilva, Shannon Gabriel, Keon Harding, Kyle Mayers, Preston McSween, Marquino Mindley, Shayne Moseley, Anderson Phillip, Oshane Thomas, Jomel Warrican
TKR, the most successful team in the history of the Caribbean Premier League with four titles, finished bottom of the league stage last year and failed to make the playoffs for the first time.
Simmons has previous coaching experience in the CPL as well and, in his most recent stint, he won the title with Barbados Royals, who were then known as Barbados Tridents.
Simmons has had two stints as head coach of West Indies, with his most recent one ending with their tour of Australia in December last year. He then went on to coach Dubai Capitals in the inaugural season of the International League T20, leading them to the playoffs.
"As captain, I'm very excited to have coach Phil with us. We have a great chemistry working together as a pair," Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard said.
"We've done it in the international scene, and it's great that we are getting the opportunity to work for TKR. Hopefully, this combination will bring smiles and some exciting results back to TKR," he added.
Apart from West Indies, Simmons has also coached Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan.
CPL 2023 gets underway on August 16, with Knight Riders playing their first game on August 19 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Things looked to be on the up for the regional squad following solid performances away to Bangladesh and at home to Sri Lanka, which had even led to the team moving up the Test team rankings table.
However, the West Indies could hardly find a foothold in the series against the visiting South Africans. They failed to reach the 200 runs in any innings of the two Test matches and were bowled out for 97 in the first innings of the Test match.
The coach will be hoping the performance is more of an aberration than an erosion of the progress made in recent months.
“It has been a setback. You don’t know how big a setback until we do our remedying and come up against Pakistan,” Simmons told members of the media.
“At the same time, we keep making sure that sometimes you have two steps forward and one step back in progress. So, it is a little setback we will know how big a setback with the Pakistan series.”
The West Indies will play against a visiting Pakistan in a two-Test series in August.
Pace bowler Romario Sheperd had captured 3 for 21 and led the way for the West Indies who reduced Bangladesh to 105 for 8 from 13 overs after the match had been reduced to 14 for each team after early showers delayed the start of play.
When play did begin, Munim Shahriar was dismissed in the first over, putting Bangladesh immediately on the back foot at 2 for 1. From there the team lost wickets at regular intervals, with Shakib Al Hasan providing the most resistance with 29 from 15.
Hayden Walsh Jr was the next most successful bowler for the West Indies after taking 2 for 24.
“I think we are getting to where we want to be. The aggression was there, the guys ran in and hit the wicket. They made Bangladesh play,” Simmons said after the match was called off.
“We took four wickets early on and I think we did the right things today. In the field we took all the catches that came to us, so we did all the right things.”
The teams are scheduled to play the second match of the series on Sunday at the Windsor Park Stadium in Dominica.
The Windies took the opening match of the series with a comfortable four-wicket win, with 41 balls remaining. On Friday, however, Sri Lanka came roaring back to claim the second match after a star performance from the team’s spinners.
Lakshan Sandakan and Wanidu Hasaranga proved particularly hard to negotiate, each claiming three wickets, with Sandakan boasting a miserly economy rate of 2.73. In pursuit of Sri Lanka’s 160 for 6, the Windies were restricted before being bundled out of 116. Things had not gone smoothly against the spin in the first match, despite the result, with Akila Danajaya claiming a four-for, including a third over hat-trick before being taken apart by Windies captain Kieron Pollard who smashed 6 sixes off his over. The coach believes a similar approach could pay dividends in the decider.
“The key is playing them in the right way. You can’t be too tentative when you are playing against good spinners,” Simmons told members of the media via a Zoom press conference on Saturday.
“We have to still go out there and look to score against them and playing cricket how we know how to play cricket,” he added.
“All the guys who played IPL would have played against these spinners or even better spinners and done well, so that is what we have to make sure we do tomorrow.”
If the play in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) is anything to go by, the regional team could have plenty of cause for concern as they have been unable to compete with Bangladesh to date. In two matches so far, in which they batted first, the team was bowled out for 122 and 149 before Bangladesh easily chased down the target.
Facing off against the Asians next week, in what could be considered their weakest format, and with just as many inexperienced players in the line-up, it is likely to be a stern challenge. Simmons sees an opportunity.
“It’s chance that guys get to show what they can do at this level. It’s a chance for them to put their names in the hat for 2023 and put their names in the hat for Sri Lanka and later this year. So, it’s good to see what people are made of,” Simmons said.
The coach predicts the four-day contests will be good for the team, as it should prove to be a test of strength.
“Playing in these conditions, playing in the environment that we are in and everything, you have to be strong. You have to get stronger than just playing a cricket match. So, you will see who are the strong ones and who leads from the front. Let’s see who takes up the challenge and who comes out best in the two-Test matches.”
This forum will be the launchpad for the new CWI Coach Education Program, a key part of the new “Cricket First” strategy and investment plan to develop coaches and players to strengthen cricket in the West Indies for long-term success.
Newly-appointed Coaching Education Manager Chris Brabazon, international and franchise coaches will be working together to develop a framework as to how all coaches in the region will work and communicate together to improve player development and shape the players of the future.
“This is something I tried to initiate a few years ago in my previous stint as head coach and it's great that this was initiated in 2017 under Director of Cricket Jimmy Adams. I feel we can all learn from each other and all work together for the development of West Indies Cricket,” said West Indies Head Coach, Phil Simmons.
Adams said he was happy that the programme has been getting the backing it needs to ensure success.
“I am pleased that CW is putting resources behind player-development through the strengthening of its coaching pathway,” he said.
“We need to have all our coaches in the region playing a consistent and integrated role in player development and this forum will be a significant part of the process.”
CWI plans to use this forum to start building consistency throughout its coaching pathway, from U15s to international level by identifying current and future playing skills critical for international success and then determining the coaching pathway and education to develop those playing skills.
Following the West Indies Coaches Forum, Coach Education Manager Chris Brabazon will visit all regional franchises to meet with regional pathway coaches to understand how CWI can better support regional coaches and how all coaches can work together with the new Coach Education Program.
“There is no doubt that the role of the coach is vital at every level of the player pathway. These Coach Forums will be crucial to the creation of a coach development system that provides our coaches with the practical resources required to assist them to play their part in the player journey,” said Brabazon.
CWI President Ricky Skerritt, who will be making opening remarks at the forum, said bringing cricket specialists together to learn from each other, establish standards and plan strategy is a crucial component of CWI’s overall strategy.
“I am really pleased to see such a gathering taking place,” he said.
The coaches participating in the Coaching Forum are Andre Coley, Nikita Miller, Emmerson Trotman, Fernix Thomas, Wilden Cornwall, Esuan Crandon, Stuart Williams, Andrew Richardson, Roddy Estwick, David Williams, Vasbert Drakes, Floyd Reifer, and Pedro Collins.
These sentiments were expressed by Head Coach Phil Simmons and White-Ball Captain Kieron Pollard in the aftermath of another losing series, this time in New Zealand where the West Indies lost the T20 series and Test series by 2-0 margins.
Since then, debate has swirled around the failings of the West Indies and what, if anything, can be done to bring about a reversal of fortunes.
Simmons and Pollard are of the view that a lot needs to be done administratively and by the players, if things are to change for the better.
“We are never, in the Caribbean, wanting for talent,” Simmons said in a video from CWI posted on Youtube on Wednesday.
“But now is a time for us to realize that all the talent we have hasn’t taken us anywhere and that there are some things that have to go with the talent. “There’s teaching, there’s understanding, there’s learning how to play different games in all different formats.
“There is a lot to be done still. We have to put together everything else in the Caribbean that goes with the talent to make it a successful unit again.”
Pollard, one of the best T20 players in the world and who has played with in some of the best T20 leagues across the globe, while agreeing with the head coach, opined that until the structures can be put in place for the West Indies to make full use of the talent, the current crop of players need to shoulder a greater share of responsibility. This, he said, would likely inspire the administrators to do more.
“We talk about fixing cricket and wanting to take it forward but I think as individuals, the hard work needs to be put in and I just believe that sometimes you look at it, it needs to start at the administration level,” Pollard said.
“In this case, I think we can be the driving force on the field, the group of guys we have at present, we can continue to show that we have the drive and the determination and desire to go forward and push forward, and also put ourselves in uncomfortable positions in order for this vehicle to go forward then it would transcend onto the administration and they will realize that we need to pull our socks up.
“When you look at it, we are not wanting for talent. Talent, pound for pound, we are always there and sometimes a lot better than we have seen around the world but what they have around the world is structure. What they have is people investing in the cricket, investing in themselves.”
Pollard believes the West Indies have remained in the doldrums for a long time because of a willingness to accept mediocrity suggesting that, unfortunately, it part of Caribbean culture.
He said with a renewed effort to move forward, hopefully the effort will attract the type of investment needed in regional cricket.
“There is still a long way to go in terms of playing in proper facilities. Pitches in the Caribbean, in all honesty, are not at a great standard. Things that we call world class, when you go away you see world class and those are the things we need to see as individuals and from an administration point of view.”
The West Indies pulled off an improbable win on Sunday’s final day of the first Test at Chattogram. Set a target of 395, the West Indies achieved pulled off the win thanks largely to a remarkable undefeated 210 from Kyle Mayers and obdurate knock of 86 from Nkrumah Bonner.
It was an incredible turnaround for the Caribbean men who trailed by 171 runs on the first innings after Bangladesh scored 430 and the West Indies replied with 259.
Simmons believes that the West Indies can use the performance in the match as an inspiration to do even better starting Wednesday.
“Every time you win it’s more important that you look at ways to improve, and that’s the way we are going to look at it,” said Simmons in a pre-Test press conference today.
“Yes, you’ve done things well but how do you improve on that? We have to make sure we improve in all aspects. We were not 100 per cent in all aspects. We still can do better with the ball. We still can limit them; instead of 400, you can limit them to 300-something.
“There are more than one thing to improve on and that is what we are going to focus on; how do we improve on the performance at Chattogram.”
The former Test opener said among the lessons the players need to take away from the match is that they need to trust in their own abilities.
“I will highlight the partnership in the first innings between (Jermaine) Blackwood and (Joshua) Da Silva where there was a lot of pressure put on us in that partnership and they trusted themselves and they came out of it,” Simmons said, in reference to the sixth-wicket partnership between the two batsmen that rescued the West Indies from 153 for 5 and allowed them to get to their first innings total of 259.
The partnership was significant considering that the West Indies lost their last five wickets for just six runs in 23 balls after Da Silva got out.
The coach then referred to the match-winning partnership between Kyle Mayers and Nkrumah Bonner.
“There was a lot of pressure put on Mayers and Bonner for a period when they had to trust their ability. They had to believe in themselves and I think that is the biggest takeaway from this, that in the times of challenges, they trusted their ability and they fought through it,” Simmons said.
“We had to grind through it we did that.”
Among them, combatting the home side’s dangerous spinners.
Head Coach Phil Simmons, in his first media session on Thursday, revealed that successfully playing Sri Lanka’s spinners was high on their list of priorities like it was in Bangladesh where the West Indies emerged 2-0 winners over the home side in February.
“I think there will be a heavy dose of spin coming from them because we saw it when they played England they even opened the bowling with a spinner, so we are going to be focusing a lot on how we combat that spin with the new ball and then bat as normal after that because we played spin alright in Bangladesh,” Simmons revealed.
“We did what we had to do to score the runs we needed and to win the games, so we need to bring that same sort of mentality we had on that away tour and preparation today started like that.”
Doing well against Sri Lanka’s spinners, Simmons explained, could prove to be crucial to time the West Indies batsmen spend at the crease, rotating the strike and not losing wickets playing rash shots out of frustration at being bogged down.
That also will be something he and his players will pay some attention to, Simmons revealed.
Rotating the strike will be “definitely an area of focus, especially when you’re playing against quality spinners,” he said, “you have to continually change their mode, especially if we have left and handers at the crease so it is something that we are going to be discussing and putting into practice.”
The West Indies will play a four-day warm-up match in Colombo starting on Sunday, November 14 because they take on Sri Lanka in the first of two Tests beginning on November 21 at the Galle International Cricket Stadium.
The second Test is set to begin on November 29 at the same venue.