West Indies Test captain Denesh Ramdin says the upcoming series against England will be a “tough grind”. The West indies confront England Monday in Antigua in the first of three Test matches.
Ramdin expects a keen contest. “It’s going to be a tough grind this series. It is going to be set up by big scores as well as aggressive bowling in an hour or hour and a half period where you can pick up wickets, a bowler can change a match for us.
‘‘But it could go either way but hopefully it could be on our side where Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, our spinners, (Sulieman) Benn, Bishoo, Marlon (Samuels) all those guys who have experience bowling in these conditions can exploit them and we can do well for ourselves,” Ramdin told WICB Media. “Of course when you go away and you play against the opposition at home they put you under pressure in their conditions and they exploit it, so I don’t see why our bowlers can’t do it while we at home.”
Ramdin said the the team had undergone good preparation the last two days, “trying to get all of the departments of our game up to scratch”.
He added that the new coach Phil Simmons was urging them to enjoy their cricket while the young players have been bringing enthusiasm to the practice sessions.
“The youth come with that energy, that enthusiasm, and are always willing to learn and giving 100 per cent,” Ramdin said, “(They are) a young bunch of guys, a very enjoyable bunch so far and hopefully they can learn from this and if not selected, go back to their territorial boards and be able to improve as players and do well for their country.”
The wicketkeeper/batsman said Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s experience should play an important role in the Series.“His experience is second to none, all those matches he has played at international level, I’m sure he will go on to get the most runs for West Indies as a Test player. ‘‘I am sure that this is his goal but at the same time his experience in the middle-order there batting all those balls, getting his hundreds, forming partnerships to get big totals, so that we have opportunities to win matches, will all count,” he said.
Ramdin said he had his best figures against England including two Test centuries and is looking forward to getting stuck into the England bowling attack,
“They have a good bowling attack so we can’t take that away from them. We just need to spend time out there. As a batter, I want to spend time out there so things become easier once I do that within the first game then I would get some runs under my belt and it would become easier setting up the series going forward,’’ Ramdin concluded.
