West Indies head Coach, Phil Simmons. Associated Press /
Ricardo Mazalan
Caribbean Life, June 19-25, 2020 43
By Nelson A. King
West Indies head coach Phil
Simmons says the West Indies
will be ready and is looking forward
to defending the Wisden
trophy against England in the
forthcoming three-test series in
England, according to reports.
According to ESPNCricinfo,
not since their 1980s heyday
have West Indies won a Test
series in England.
But two aspects of the forthcoming
three-match encounter
could work in its favor, Simmons
told ESPNCricinfo on Saturday.
First, due to the behindclosed
doors nature of the Tests,
in response to COVID-19, ESPNCricinfo
said “there will be
no supporters in the stands to
cheer the home side on; and
second, instead of being halfway
through their summer, England
have not played competitive
cricket for several months.”
That might “even things out
a little bit”, Simmons told ESPNCricinfo
said via video conference
from the team’s training
base in Manchester, where
West Indies is currently serving
a 14-day quarantine period and
continuing preparations for the
rescheduled tour, after agreeing
to the English Crick Board
(ECB) proposals for staging
“bio-secure” Test matches.
As well as the absence of
crowds, ESPNCricinfo said there
will be “significant departures
from normal playing conditions
— including a ban on using
saliva to shine the ball, and the
possibility of COVID replacements
for players who display
symptoms of the disease.”
“The first international series
to be contested since the coronavirus
pandemic escalated in
mid-March promises to be a
trip into the unknown for all
involved,” ESPNCricinfo said.
Simmons said: “I don’t know
if it will increase our chances,
because both teams are under
the same umbrella – for want of
a better word.
“The nice part for us is that
20,000 Englishmen raving for
England, and that crowd support,
it’s not there for them,” he
said. “So that, in a way, will help
us; so, it’s good from that point
of view.
“It’s a plus, because England
hasn’t come from a tour recently,
and we’ve just been playing
cricket at home. Because
in a normal situation we would
have been coming from camps
and England would have been
halfway through their season,
and the series would have been
going on right now,” Simmons
added.
“So, I think that is a plus for
us, because it evens out things
a little bit, with the fact they
haven’t been playing competitive
cricket for a while also,” he
continued.
Having beaten England 2-1 in
the Caribbean 18 months ago,
ESPNCricinfo said a draw would
be enough for West Indies to
retain the Wisden Trophy.
While they travelled to the
United Kingdom last week without
three players who took park
in that 2018-19 victory – batsmen
Darren Bravo and Shimron
Hetmye, and allrounder Keemo
Paul, ESPNCricinfo said Simmons
was happy with the players
at his disposal.
“I think we have the best
squad we can have,” Simmons
told ESPNCricinfo. “Unfortunately,
a few guys decided not
to come, but we are here with
the best squad that we can have
here.
Windies will be ready to defend
Wisden trophy: Phil Simmons
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