As the West Indies squad has finally reached the Ageas Bowl – the venue for the first Test, head coach Phil Simmons is now more focused on mentally preparing his side to avoid the batting debacles that have often been seen on their tours of England in the past ahead of the three-match Test series.
In 2017, the Windies had a dreadful start to their Test tour when they suffered a massive 209-run defeat in the first Test at Edgbaston, but then the tourists made a brilliant comeback in the second Test and secured a stunning victory at Headingley against Joe Root and his team.
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And ahead of the series opener of the three-match Test series starting on July 8 behind the closed doors in Southampton, Simmons said the West Indies are drawing the strength from the way they made a strong comeback at Headingley to challenge England in the first Test next week.
Windies’ bowling attack featuring Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph, Shannon Gabriel, Chemar Holder, Oshane Thomas, and captain Jason Holder looks dangerous, but their batting order is a concern and Simmons stressed on the need to “get the psychology right” to avoid batting collapse in Southampton.
However, the head coach said his batsmen have worked hard on getting into that mental stage but still he has to make sure batters are ready to face England in the first Test, and that’s a big task for him.
Simmons told the “Cricket, on the Inside” webinar in conjunction with the Lord’s Taverners and Black Opal, on Friday (July 3): “I think the batters have worked hard on getting to a mental stage of where they need to be because most of them have scored runs here.”
He further added, “[Shay] Hope has got back-to-back hundreds here. It’s about getting to the mental stage where you are prepared for a Test match in England because it’s different from many other places. The next three days of practice is about sharpening up the skills. But the mentality is the big thing.”
Recalling Windies’ Headingley thrilling win, the coach noted: “We are drawing on that. The Test match before Headingley we were horrible and that seems to be like that most times we go on tour. We are trying to make sure that a bad match is taken out of the equation and we start properly.”
Phil continued, “We are playing against one of the best Test teams in the world and we need to start on the front foot. We’re trying to bring back memories of Headingley and get the psychology right.”
While all the matches of the series will be played in empty stadiums with strict health protocols because of the Coronavirus pandemic, Simmons said it would not have much impact on Caribbean players.
Simmons signed off by saying, “I think maybe ... the senior guys it might affect a few of them because they are used to sold-out matches in England. But in the Caribbean, there is not much crowds for Test so we are kind of accustomed to that.”
(With Reuters Inputs)
