Coach hopes WI will achieve more glory

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Phil Simmons is hopeful that his West Indies team will achieve more glory after winning the third Test against England.
The West Indies’ coach said that the Test victory can be the foundation for better things for Caribbean cricket, but warns next month’s tests against Australia represent a sterner examination of his team.
Simmons was appointed just before the three Test series with England, which was drawn 1-1 after West Indies enjoyed an entertaining win in just three days in Barbados.
“It is a cause for optimism, you are talking about winning a test match where we weren’t fancied to do anything in the series,” Simmons said.
“It gives them good confidence that they were part of it. The biggest part of winning that game is what the youngsters and the team take from that.”
The former Ireland coach, who played 26 Tests for West Indies, clearly made a swift impact on a team which was credited with showing a renewed focus and discipline in the series.
“The key message was that there is the ability there to play test cricket and do well at test cricket and we have to start looking and making sure we know exactly what we are doing and what direction we are going and all the players are part of that,” he said.
“I think application is a really big thing and it was something that we had talked about. It is a big game, a game of patience, like a chess game and everybody had to understand what application meant — and I think everyone came to the party as far as that was concerned,” added Simmons.
It was a youthful team which beat England at Kensington Oval.
The opening batting pair of Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope are 22 and 21-years-old respectively while all-rounder Jason Holder and key middle order performer Jermaine Blackwood are both 23.
With other young players emerging in the first class regional competition, there is a rare sense of positivity about the future in Caribbean cricket, but Simmons says having the raw talent isn’t enough.
“The talent becomes unimportant if you are not working. But if you have the talent and you are hard working then you are going somewhere. I think the talent is there with a lot of them, we just have to make sure that we work hard with that talent,” he said.
The bowling attack has benefitted from having Curtley Ambrose, who took 405 wickets in 98 tests before retiring in 2000, in his role as a consultant, with the former paceman giving animated instruction to the bowlers before key sessions.