Nottingham: The West Indies have declared that they will start Thursday’s second Test against England at Trent Bridge with an unchanged starting eleven. In James Anderson’s final Test match, West Indies were crushed at the Lord’s by an innings and 114 runs. However, the visitors have a history of returning to the game, as evidenced by their victory in the second Test match against Australia in Brisbane earlier this year following a crushing loss in Adelaide.
Shamar Joseph, the West Indies fast bowler, had to leave the game in the middle of the day after a hamstring injury at the Lord’s, raising doubts about his availability. Nonetheless, Joseph is believed to have only had a cramp; thus, he will play in the Nottingham Test.
“The pitch looks a good cricket pitch, to be honest. Looks good for batting, the bowlers will get a bit of assistance as well. We think the guys had a long rest, unfortunately, the (first) game finished quite early, and as I say Shamar is doing well. I believe 100% in the 11 that played the first Test and we’re backing them 100%,” said captain Kraigg Brathwaite in the pre-match press conference.
West Indies were bowled out for 121 and 136 at the Lord’s, and Brathwaite said he expects for his batters to step up at Nottingham. “It’s pretty simple what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to bat a lot better. Obviously we’ve got to find a way, which we’ve had some discussions around different things we can do better as a team.”
“There are still a bit of positives with the bat. With the ball, as I said before, (England scored) 50-60 runs too many but it was a positive to get ten wickets. But with the bat, we’ve just got to put runs on the board. It’s simple.”
“A few guys did get in and didn’t go on. It’s just important that you go on for longer because the longer you bat, the easier it becomes and it’s important to stay in that plan for as long as possible. Obviously, you want to put away bad balls, that’s what everybody wants to do.”
“But it’s that hard work that you do for 40 minutes, being able to take that to an hour, two hours. It is a balance, a mixture of putting away the bad balls because when you put away the bad balls it gives them confidence. We just got to keep learning. A lot of learning would have taken place in the first Test and you’ve just got to believe in our ability and do it and aim to do it for a longer duration,” he said.
West Indies Playing Eleven: Kraigg Brathwaite (c), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua da Silva (wk), Gudakesh Motie, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales.
— IANS
