DARREN?SAMMY said his side did not get the hoped for victory on Friday to square the three-match Digicel Test Series against Australia because of the big moments they lost.
West Indies fell 75 runs short of what would have been an improbable win at Windsor Park, chasing 370 on a pitch partial to spin. Despite producing the Man-of-the-Series in Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the best bowler in Kemar Roach (19 wickets), Sammy’s side came up short again.
And the captain pointed to “key moments” in the series his side lost, such as the period over the first and second days when Australian wicketkeeper Matthew Wade struck his Man-of-the-Match 106 as being decisive.
A frustrated Sammy said: “This team has not been winning for too long and you could just taste success here and there, and I think that once we find that way to win . . . just focus for a longer period in Test cricket, and you could see results coming.”
In identifying other contributing factors to the series loss, he noted the repeated failures of the top order batsmen apart from Chanderpaul.
“The top six is where we should get the bulk of the runs. Shiv (Chanderpaul) batted really well for us again, but we did not have the sort of consistent contributions from everyone up there. But we have youngsters at the top and like Shiv said, they are learning their skill at the international level. With more experience, hopefully, things will get better.”
The captain, who only managed five wickets at 40.80 apiece in the three Tests, however, had few complaints about the work of his bowlers in the three matches.
“If I grade the bowling, I would give it a high score. But yet still, we kept finding them in positions and we didn’t bowl them out, but the bowlers . . . continue to show that we are improving as a unit.”
Sammy was especially pleased with the work of Roach and off-spinner Shane Shillingford, who picked up 14 wickets, after coming in for the last two games.
Of Roach he said: “Last year he had a tough year. I remember in Bangladesh he broke down in tears, but this year he’s come back really, really strong and people might say wow, he bowled more overs than me, but he keeps asking me for the ball and that’s the sort of attitude I really like to see.
“When I thought he was tired he kept telling me, ‘no, I want to bowl,’ putting his hands up to lead the bowling attack and his wickets showed the hard work he did throughout the series.
Sammy also noted that Shillingford, “had been through a lot, coming back, doing remedial work on his action, and to come in this series and perform the way he did is testimony to how strong mentally he is.”
Asked however about the team’s prospects for the upcoming tour of England, Sammy was cautious.
“I hope we play much better,” he said. “Different conditions, some of the guys will be playing there for the first time. We still got to learn and believe that whatever comes our way we could overcome it. It’s going to be another tough series for us but like we fought in this series against Australia, we expect to do the same against England.”
“But I like the way all three formats are shaping up. The players and hopefully we can grab on to opportunities that we create to win and finally win…I know the coach is proud of the team. I am proud of the team as well but we would like to have some victories,” he added.
