KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Rain has hampered the preparations of West Indies-A on the eve of the opening four-day “Test” of two against Pakistan-A, starting today at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
Six players were brought-in to beef-up the Windies-A squad for the fixture, and they would have relished the opportunity of their final practice session to get themselves fully attuned to the conditions and their teammates.
Based on the performance of the home team in the preceding limited-overs matches, Windies-A coach Hendy Springer still expects that the series will be competitive.
West Indies-A won a two-match Twenty20 series 1-0, with the first match ending in a tie, the same result as the first match of a three-match One-day series, which they lost 0-2.
“We are facing very, very good opposition because a number of their guys would have had international experience, and this is good for our cricket to pit our resources against such quality,” he told the CMC Sport Wire.
“It has been a good experience for our guys. We have played about five matches against them, and to show the competitiveness of the series so far, we tied two of the limited-overs matches.
“We have been competing all the way, and the scores have been very close, although I am a little disappointed that we have not had a lot of half-centuries and any big scores.”
He added: “We can be competitive, but one of the things we will have to take into consideration is the conditions with which we will have to deal.
“Not a lot of cricket has been played at Arnos Vale over the last few months, and the pitch looks very, very brown, and could be a bit slow. This is something for which we will have to cater, but we have a good cross-section of players, and should be ready for anything.”
One of Springer’s major concerns about his side however, has been the lack of “situational awareness” by the Windies-A batsmen in particular.
“The pitches have been very good, and guys have been getting off to good starts, but it is about them knowing that we are in good positions, and instead of pushing hard, just settling down and consolidate our position,” he said.
“This has been one of our downfalls. . .There is always need for a sensible approach in cricket. We have got the skills, we have got the fitness, since we have been lucky not to have any serious injuries.”
He added: “It all boils to our mental approach to batting. Understanding the situation, understanding what are the [team] requirements, and understanding what are their personal requirements at any particular time.
“Obviously, the easiest solution would be seek the guidance of people that are involved in the field of sports psychology. But it is also a matter of them getting out there and playing the game, getting into situations in games, simulations in practice sessions to help guys understand how to do the job and respond to the challenge.”
With the new recruits on-board, Springer hopes that they use the opportunity to further their careers and their understanding of the game to position themselves for a higher calling, which may come at any time, particularly with the senior side, under Darren Sammy, currently touring Sri Lanka.
“This is an opportunity for these guys, and though it has not been a settled squad, it is important we get the possible side out to do the job and hopefully we would have had a good look at a number of the players,” he said.
Squads:WEST INDIES-A: Dave Bernard Jr (captain), Jason Holder (vice-captain), Brandon Bess, Kraigg Brathwaite, Odean Brown, Rajendra Chandrika, Jonathan Carter, Kirk Edwards, Assad Fudadin, Shannon Gabriel, Kieran Powell, Veerasammy Permaul, Denesh Ramdin
PAKISTAN-A: Faisal Iqbal (captain), Aamer Sajjad, Abid Ali, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Junaid Khan, Khurram Manzoor, Mohammad Rameez, Naveed Yasin, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shan Masood, Tabish Khan, Umair Khan, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar