West Indies head coach Phil Simmons urged his batsmen to assess the situation better to get big scores after they suffered a 109-run loss in the second Test against Pakistan at Kingston.
In the second Test, none of the West Indies batsmen, apart from Jason Holder (47 in the second innings), could cross 40 in both innings, as they managed just 150 and 219 runs and fell short of 109 runs while chasing 329 runs and Pakistan brilliantly leveled the Test series 1-1 on Tuesday.
The coach has pointed out that his batsmen got great starts but could not convert them into big scores despite working hard behind in the background, and he feels they just need to sit down and work out how to get to big scores while reading the situation of the game in Tests.
Simmons told the host broadcaster, “We see that we can bat. We are spending 110 balls for 50 runs but it's how we read the situation of the game. We might be batting well like we saw in the first innings then the ball started swinging a little bit more. We've got to assess those situations in order for us to get the big scores. We've seen a more controlled approach to the start of everyone's innings, but we have to work out how we go from the 40s and 50s to the 100s and 150s.”
The coach continued, “The Caribbean has to continue backing us. From a point of view that we are seeing improvement in the fact that guys are trying to do the things that are necessary for us to be a better Test batting team. The bowling has been exceptional - it carries its weight and pulls the team. But the batters have to sit down and work out how to get to the scores we want to get. We need the backing, the batsmen need the encouragement. We don't see what's happening in the background, but they are working hard.”
He further insisted that they must back the current batting unit, as they have the desire to play Test cricket. He said, “The first thing is a want to play Test cricket. We can say what we want, [but] Test cricket is not easy. The first day of this match was unbelievable with the heat so you have to want [it], you have to have that desire, that conviction to play Test cricket. Maybe be out there for a day-and-a-half and then come and bat. It's for guys to want to play, we know the ones who are capable.”
He continued, “But if you don't have that want, you can't do it. [It] makes no sense us selecting you and forcing you to play Test cricket and then you are just out there. The West Indies always have talented players. Learning to play Test cricket can be easy, but you have to want to put in the work. You [see the] Babar Azam and Kane Williamson, they put in a lot of extra work. So we keep pushing guys to do that.”
West Indies’ Test performance has been majorly hampered by lack of First-Class cricket, as the domestic competition hasn’t been held since the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Simmons signed off by saying, “We've got to make sure our first-class cricket comes back as we settle down in the pandemic and guys are playing more. We have to make our grounds better in terms of our pitches so our guys are able to bat and improve [and] bat longer. There's quite a few things we can do to push ourselves to the next level.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
