West Indies coach Phil Simmons has insisted he has no regrets regarding the line-up fielded for the final Test match, against England, disagreeing sharply with views that suggested refreshing the bowling line-up.

The West Indies bowlers have increasingly found wickets hard to come by the longer the Test series has gone on.  In the first Test, which the Caribbean team won by four wickets, the West Indies dismissed England for 204 and 313.  In the second Test, the team conceded 469 for 9 declared and 129 for 3 declared in the second innings, Stokes, in particular, took liberties with the bowling attack, smashing 176 in the first innings and then 78 in the second.

So far in the third and final Test, England has made 369 and then gone on to make 226 for 2 declared in the second innings.  In his first match back from injury, fast bowler Shannon Gabriel has looked a little less than his best, since the first Test, where he claimed 4 for 62 and 5 for 75.  Simmons insisted, however, that the players were all fully fit and the best available under the circumstances.

“Fitness is one of the first things we take into consideration and everyone on the park was fit,” Simmons told members of the media, following the end of the third day’s play.

“I think that it was one of the things we took into consideration.  The fast bowlers especially have done a lot of work but I didn’t see any of them faltering in this game.”