West Indies interim head coach, Andre Coley believes his unit is in good spirits heading into the first Test against Zimbabwe today.
Speaking to the media on the eve of the showdown, Coley explained that the preparations leading up to the match have been favourable.
“We’ve had a number of practice sessions and we were able to get through that three-day game prior to the Test match so we are confident that the areas we wanted to address and spend some time on we have been able to do so. Facilities have generally been good and offer enough for us to get through what we needed to,” he said.
Cognizant of the constraints on tour, Coley said that everyone was in good health. He said, “Everybody looks fine and the reports are that everyone is ok, guys have been putting in extra work separate from what we had planned so all of that has been managed and it’s good that the players are eager and have been going through their paces, very focused and a lot of energy around the training.”
With the aim of starting the year on a positive, the interim head coach explained that consistency will be a crucial part if they are to be successful.
“Consistency in all areas is going to be important, being able as a batting unit to have those partnerships is going to be significant to set up scores and give our bowlers something to bowl at if we were to bat first and now we bowl just consistently and around our plans and being patient as well and being very supportive of each other,” he said.
Despite Zimbabwe not playing Test cricket for 18 months, Coley was still watchful of the side.
He explained, “Zimbabwe is always a competitive team at home. Obviously we are wary that they will be looking for the team to play their best cricket and we are not taking anything lightly, we are here to be at our best…so we are setting our standards and we are aiming to maintain those standards throughout the series.”
