Former World Cup-winning West Indies skipper, Clive Lloyd, said that the the batsmen will need to focus for long periods if they are to beat England at home in the upcoming three-Test series.
The 1975 and 1979 World Cup winning captain spoke recently on Barbados’ radio programme, Mason and Guests, about the West Indies’ chances of defending their Widsen Trophy.
“Our main thing is concentration, we have to concentrate for long periods because England has got four fast bowlers too and they are pretty good and are playing at home…” Lloyd noted.
“We have nine or so batters who can hold their own, our bowlers can bat, if we can get 250 or 100 and something from our lower order batsmen we will be in the game,” he argued.
Lloyd namedropped vice-captain and opener, Kraigg Brathwaite as someone who will be crucial to the task at hand but opined that “Brathwaite [has] to bat like he batted couple of years ago.”
The veteran of 110 Tests, who finished with an average of 46.67 along with 19 centuries added, “If they can get 300 odd runs in any innings of those test matches, we have the bowlers [to defend it].”
The Guyanese-born former chairman of selectors suggested that it was time the youinger players held their own.
“I think we have some young players, this is the time that our players got to move from PM to AM. We are now in that morning period, we need now to ascend, we have a chance now some of them have played in England before,” he said.
Lloyd recalled when West Indies trounced England in the Caribbean, no one gave them a chance and advised that they use that motivation to take the lead.
During West Indies first three-day warm up match among themselves, Brathwaite (84), Shai Hope (83), Shayne Moseley (83), Shamarah Brooks (66 not out), Shane Dowrich (56 not out) and Sunil Ambris (52) all stroked half centuries while Raymon Reifer was the lone bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul in the drawn encounter.
