Windies showed ‘laid-back approach’

FORMER TT and West Indies cricket team manager Omar Khan is disappointed with the WI’s 113-run defeat to hosts England in the second Test at Old Trafford, Manchester on Monday.

The West Indies, holders of the Wisden Trophy (which the two teams are competing for), won the first Test by four wickets last weekend at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton. The final Test will take place at Old Trafford, starting from Friday.

Khan said, “It’s very disappointing, taking into consideration we won the first Test, (and) losing this second Test match in such a manner, considering a whole day and a session lost to rain.

“We didn’t see the same kind of enthusiasm, spirit, determination and fight that we displayed in the first Test match,” continued Khan, who is the current manager of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) team Guyana Amazon Warriors. “You saw a laid-back approach, having won the toss and inserted England in overcast conditions. We needed to capitalise on that situation, take early wickets, put them on the back foot and bowl them down cheaply, as we did in the first Test.”

West Indies’ fast bowler Shannon Gabriel was adjudged the Man of the Match after the first Test, following his nine-wicket haul, but he only was wicket-less at Manchester.

“Our lengths and lines were very inconsistent,” Khan noted. “Shannon was way off in this Test match as opposed to his performance in the first Test match. Although we were a little bit unlucky, we didn’t have that consistent pressure bowling for them to make mistakes.”

With a lack of adequate rest between Test matches, does he think that the bowlers, particularly Gabriel and Alzarri Joseph were carrying injuries and hence their effectiveness were limited?

Khan replied, “It definitely looks so. Shannon was struggling in the first innings to be that effective. I think that had an impact on him.”

England changed their strike bowling trio from the first Test, with James Anderson and Mark Wood rested, while Jofra Archer was left out due to breaking covid19 protocol. In their places came veteran Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran.

“West Indies should have assessed that situation a little better, rotating the bowlers and giving somebody fresh a chance,” Khan said. “It’s difficult, after a bowler takes nine wickets in a Test match, to come and (rest) him, but we need to assess it properly and see how effective the bowlers will be on different tracks (and) the time between matches.”

Another talking point for the West Indies have been the struggles of top-order batsmen Shai Hope and John Campbell, who have scored 57 and 52 runs respectively in the two Tests. Only Kemar Roach (11) and Gabriel (four) have scored less for the visitors.

“Hope is a class player, he’s one of our better players and he’s proven he can bat in England conditions,” said Khan. “He has been a bit unfortunate with his dismissals. He just needs to be given that confidence. If you look at the replacements, there is not much. I see Hope as a much better option.

“I think Campbell is struggling at the top,” added the Guyana Amazon Warriors manager. “We need good starts. We need batsmen to give us consistently good scores.

“The big difference in this Test match was Ben Stokes (who scored 176 and 78 not out). That’s the consistency we need with our batsmen. We need to also assess conditions. A lot of batsmen get out playing on the back foot when they should have been on the front foot. We need to get a better appreciation of situations and apply ourselves better.”

Looking ahead to the final Test, Khan mentioned, “I think we need to look at our batting on top. We should give somebody else an opportunity to open the batting. We need to give one of our faster bowlers a rest.

“We need some variation in our bowling. Probably (Raymon) Reifer might be a good option. He took some wickets in a practice match on that same ground, and then he could bat. He gives you an option with left-arm medium pace.”