KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – West Indies head coach Otis Gibson believes pacer Jerome Taylor is still not ready for competitive cricket, less than three weeks before the start of the World Twenty20 Championship.
The newly appointed Gibson said that there was still a need for the 25-year-old Taylor to be nurtured and assessed in order to ensure he was not being rushed back into action prematurely.
Taylor is yet to play in the Jamaica Cricket Association Festival where West Indies are competing against Jamaica, Ireland and Canada.
“He has not played yet in the festival but the intention is to play him later this week, maybe Saturday or Sunday, but currently he is still doing all the strengthening and the ‘back to bowling programme’,” Gibson told CMC Sports Monday.
This comes after Taylor was picked in the Windies squad for the Festival and also in the official 15-man squad for the World Twenty20 Championship which bowls off in the Caribbean later this month.
The right-arm Taylor, who has played 29 Tests and 62 One-Day Internationals, has not played competitive cricket for the Windies since he limped out of the first Test of the three-match series Down Under last November, after bowling just nine overs.
Gibson said, however, he was optimistic about Taylor’s situation, noting that he had seen encouraging signs in the bowler’s recovery.
“Jerome is progressing nicely. He is doing all the things we asked him to do. He is doing some bowling and he is doing a lot of strengthening work, which he needed to do since he has his injury,” Gibson explained.
“He is a lot fitter than when I saw him two weeks ago in Barbados, so the signs are very good for him moving forward.”
He added: “He is getting closer and closer at all times and as I said to him, his main focus is to get fit for the first game [in the T20 World Cup].”
Gibson said Taylor will have to be managed carefully in the future so as to avoid a repeat of his injury troubles.
