West Indies are set to play the third and final Apex Test against England from today and head coach, Phil Simmons is banking on the team’s ability to produce huge partnerships and take early wickets in order to secure the series.
The two sides have played to draws on both occasions and there has been lots of talk surrounding the state of the pitches.
Simmons had a look at the pitch prior to the Grenada Test and admitted he doesn’t know what to expect but said that it was a good wicket.
During the pre-match conference yesterday Simmons said, “It looks more like a pitch. It has a light covering of grass, it looks hard, it looks level, and it looks like a good cricket wicket. I don’t know what to expect from it… the last Test match here was 2015… but the wicket looks good.”
The head coach contended that once the pitch is playing well then the players will work in the best interest of the team but their batting has been scoring consistently.
“Once the pitch is playing well and we can play or shots and the situation dictates that it’s time to play shots and lift the scoring rate, I am sure the players will take that into consideration and do what’s necessary for the team. In both Test matches we batted and made sure we got to the 350-400 runs mark,” he noted.
In the first Test West Indies posted 375 in their first innings and held on to reach 147 for four in the second innings to earn a draw. That was followed by 411 in the first innings of the second Test and 135 for five in the second innings.
The Trinidadian reiterated his satisfaction with three individual centuries scored over the two Tests so far but wanted a bigger open partnership to lay the foundation.
He related, “The important thing for me, is one, in the first Test match we got a good couple of starts from the opening pair and I would like to see a couple good starts or one good start leading to a 100-150 runs partnership. I think that is a good thing for us to be able to get those sorts of starts and being able to give the batsmen that leeway to play with going down the order.”
In the first Test Kraigg Brathwaite shared in opening partnership of 83 and 59 with John Campbell while in the second Test the pair added 14 runs in both innings.
So far, Brathwaite has been the premier batsman with scores of 55, 33, 160 and 56 not out. Nkrumah Bonner chalked up 123 in the first Test while Jermaine Blackwood scored 102 in the second Test while adding 183 for the fourth wicket with Braithwaite.
West Indies could opt to make a change in the batting order with Shamarh Brooks producing 39, four, 18 and five in his four innings. This could pave the way for Kyle Mayers to return in the playing XI. His bowling will also be of use to complement the five main bowlers.
Jason Holder, the number one-ranked Test all-rounder is now batting at number six, a move in which Simmons likes therefore creating room for the extra bowler.
“The second thing I would love is to get early wickets like we did in the first match in Antigua in that first morning and if we can do that and stick to our discipline then we can maybe get England out for a small score and work from there.”
With Veerasammy Permaul being the lone spinner in the side, Simmons noted that he is comfortable with one spinner and indicated that he likes to have at least five solid bowling options. The side has played unchanged in the two Tests with pacers Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales featuring. West Indies would be tempted to rest Seales and hand Anderson Phillip a Test debut in the interest of workload management.
