NOTTINGHAM, England, CMC – Head coach Andre Coley believes West Indies can still “compete with England” in spite of his young side’s innings and 114-run defeat to the hosts inside three days in last week’s opening Test at Lord’s.
However, Coley said it was critical the Caribbean side played to their fullest potential in all three departments – batting, bowling and fielding – and built on the positives coming out of the first Test loss.
“You [have to] look to expand or extend some of those [performances in the opening Test], especially from a batting standpoint,” Coley said ahead of the second Test at Trent Bridge starting here Thursday.
“[You have to] extend longer partnerships. When players actually work hard and get in, [it is important] that they take responsibility and take it as deep as possible.
“Yes, we know the conditions will be testing – that’s why it’s called a Test match – and we’re not playing at home so conditions are going to be slightly different, but we do have it within our ranks to be at our best and compete with England.”
He continued: “From a bowling standpoint … England I’m sure would’ve thought that they could not have just run away with scoring. There were periods in the game where they actually had to show really good application and grit.
“[Fast bowlers] Jayden Seales, Jason Holder; you had Alzarri Joseph, his pace is back up; [left-arm spinner] Gudakesh Motie played a fantastic role in terms of helping the captain Kraigg [Brathwaite] to be able to control and [got the] key wicket of the captain [Ben] Stokes.
“So yes, quite a few positives.”
West Indies were dismissed cheaply for 121 in their first innings after being sent in, and found themselves facing a 250-run deficit after England gathered 371 in reply.
They fared little better in their second innings, bundled out before lunch on the third day for 136, to extend their poor record on English soil.
Coley said a greater effort was also required in the field if West Indies were to push England in the final games of the series.
“I would love to see us with a lot more intensity that we’re known to show in the field,” he said.
“I thought in this Test match, we weren’t at our best in terms of imposing ourselves on the England batters.
That is definitely something that we need to be better at for the next Test.”
Not for the first time, West Indies have found themselves trailing in a series and facing an uphill battle to avoid a series defeat.
In Australia last January, they lost the opening Test in Adelaide by 10 wickets but bounced back to win the final game of the two-match series by eight runs, and Coley said that experience would definitely serve as a motivator.
“They would’ve taken a lot of positives from that,” he said.
“So in terms of how we were able to bounce back, the process that we went through to be able to do that, I believe is a lot more powerful [than the outcome].
“It reinforces the fact that in a series you could actually not start well but then compose yourself and come back in the series and be quite competitive, potentially set it up for a game-three decider.
“So there are real positives to be taken away, not only from the first Test here, but what we would’ve [experienced in the] last six months.”
