FOLLOWING the massive disappointment of losing a Test that seemed destined to be theirs, look for the West Indies cricketers to bounce back as the Digicel series moves to Trinidad and Tobago for the second Test on Sunday.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy is optimistic that his side can get the better of the touring Australians, and with renewed motivation sparked by the buoyant Aussie celebrations, Sammy and his men will be striving to turn their fortunes around.
“We will look at this match (first Test). We have done some good stuff. We dominated a top side with some good, good players. The way I heard them celebrating on the balcony means a lot to me and we’ll take that to heart and look to come back strong in Trinidad,” Sammy said shortly after the completion of the opening Test of the three-match series.
Sammy acknowledged that even in losing there were things which have been learned that would help as the side moves forward.
“For the past year, we have learned a lot of lessons. Remember Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi; basically ,the same thing keeps happening. We keep getting close. We just need to find a way to get over the hurdle, the last hurdle.
“We are going to come back strong. I think the bowlers stuck to the plan most of the times. The way the batsmen batted in the first innings – leaving alone a lot of balls and stuff like that, Shiv (Shivnarine Chanderpaul) again showing his experience, the two young openers, Kraigg (Brathwaite) and (Adrian) Barath at the top; we did some good stuff. We just lost it in the second innings there.
“In Trinidad, where the wicket should offer some more spin, you know, (we have to) just go out there and believe that we could beat Australia and play five good days of cricket,” he added.
Reflecting on the tactics used during the Aussie run chase, Sammy argued his team needed to find the right balance of saving runs and trying to take wickets. He believed this was reflected in his field settings.
“Throughout the course of the match, most of the wickets were caught behind or at second slip, so we had those fielders in play, plus the wicket deteriorated a lot.?So with men in front the bat, it created some doubt in the batsmen’s minds,” said Sammy.