West Indies coach Phil Simmons bemoaned his batsmen’s failure to convert promising starts into major scores during the 113-run defeat by England in the second Test at Old Trafford on Monday, as he warned of possible top-order changes for the series finale.
Whereas England built a first-innings total of 469-9 declared on the back of hundreds from Ben Stokes and Dom Sibley, no West Indies batsman has yet made a century in a three-match campaign now all square at 1-1.
Only opener Kraigg Brathwaite among the tourists’ top three has so far passed 28 in either of the first two Tests, with both John Campbell and Shai Hope struggling.
Photo: AP
“They haven’t fired, so we’ve got to take that into consideration over the next couple of days,” Simmons said, with the third Test set to start at Old Trafford on Friday.
West Indies batsmen Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer both declined invitations to tour England for a series taking place during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
However, reserve wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva, who made an unbeaten century in the second intra-squad warmup match, could come into consideration, with backup opener Shayne Moseley another option for the tourists.
Photo: AFP
Although they hold the Wisden Trophy following a 2-1 success over Joe Root’s men in the Caribbean last year, 1988 was the last time that the West Indies won a Test series in England.
Much of the focus heading into this tour was on the talented Hope, whose two career Test hundreds both came during the West Indies’ shock win over England at Headingley, Root’s Yorkshire home ground, three years ago.
The 26-year-old averages an impressive 52.20 in one-day internationals, but that figure plummets to 26.35 in Tests.
“Yes, I am concerned,” former West Indies batsman Simmons said, when asked about Hope’s recent form. “He’s gone four innings without a score [in this series] — in contrast with how we played over the past five or six months in the other formats, I am concerned now about his form.”
Another frustration for Simmons during the second Test was that while Brathwaite (75), Roston Chase (51), Jermaine Blackwood (55) and Shamarh Brooks (68 and 62) all passed fifty, none of them got to three figures.
“We’ve had five or six fifties, and no one has converted to a hundred,” Simmons said. “It’s something that we’ve been talking about a lot — and no one has taken up that opportunity in this game yet again, so it is disappointing.”
However, the West Indies were looking like they might yet escape with a draw until they were rocked in their first innings by Stuart Broad’s three-wicket burst with the new ball.
“For me, we lost control of the game in five or six overs with the new ball yesterday [Sunday] evening in a place where we were in a good position to bat through the day and then some of today and close out the game,” Simmons said. “But the spell from Broad is where I think we lost the game.”
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
RSS