Having embarked on their tour to England, ‘the men in maroon’ have been settling in nicely behind closed doors; and in a virtual press conference with journalists across the globe, West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons confirmed that the 25 players will engage in two practice matches. The three-day practice match is set for June 22 and the four-day practice match is scheduled for June 29, and this is prior to the West Indies playing that first monumental Test match on July 8.
Kraigg Brathwaite stretches
Simmons noted that the team has since been putting in the training at the second-to-none facility at Old Trafford. “To be honest, the ‘bio-secure’ is similar to what we had done for training. There is nobody else at the hotel, so it feels secure,” Simmons noted.
Simmons added that this is the best squad the Windies can have here in England, since the three big players had opted out.
“From the way we had started and the work the guys are putting in, I think we are ready to defend that Wisden Trophy,” he declared. “The batting will be very important on tour.”
John Campbell
Simmons highlighted that the batting will be under pressure on this tour, since the bowling unit has carried the team in recent times. “We need to get that total of 400-450 in order to give this top-class bowling unit a chance,” he explained.
With both teams being on lockdown and having not played a lot of cricket in recent times, Simmons feels the situation is to the Windies’ advantage, because if cricket was being played, England would have been half-way through their season and the West Indies may have just come off from camp.
West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons
Speaking about Floyd Reifer, who is now the batting coach after coaching the team in the World Cup, Simmons declared it good to have him on this tour.
He also clarified that reserve players can make the final squad only if someone from the 14-man squad is injured. “If Gabriel is up to that fitness level, we will have to look at him,” he said.
In terms of newbie Chemar Holder, Simmons noted there is a strong likelihood that he would play. “He got the ability to hit the right lengths with good pace, and his ability to bowl long spells, I think, gives him a lot of pluses to be a fast bowler that may spend a long time in West Indies cricket,” Simmons posited.
On racism, Simmons said: “I think most of us feel the same way about this. It’s a touchy subject, and we had sat and spoken about this. As Jason said, we will decide what we’ll do moving forward.”
Roston Chase in action during the nets
In terms of missing two world class batsmen in Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, Simmons said the Windies would just have to work hard with guys on tour, and put them in a position to fill those shoes in the series.
