AMAZON Warriors opener Lendl Simmons says that his blistering batting performance on Tuesday evening against the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence, was due in part to his ability to stay positive.The Trinidadian said that he had to be reminded of how dominant he can be at the top of the order.
“It was a good feeling, especially coming out with a win. I got a call from my wife … reminding me of what I can do and what I normally do. I think that was a good reminder for myself when I went to bat, of what I normally do, which is to give my team a good start and bat positively in the Power Play.”
He said that the recent low scores in the tournament had been playing on his mind but from here on, there is only one way to change that.
“Well, it played a part in my mind that normally I’d be in the top three in the aggregates, but it happened this season for me and going forward the most I can do is to go out and continue to give my team a good start.”
Meanwhile skipper Denesh Ramdin confessed to loving the renewed confidence that the Warriors showed on Tuesday. “I’m very happy with the guys and the confidence that they showed when they went out there. Red Steel have been in good form in Trinidad, beating all those guys down there but they were coming to our territory and it was familiar conditions for our team. I think they played well. They didn’t get the start that they wanted and we kept picking up wickets.”
He again showered praise on the bowlers who he says were the backbone of keeping the Red Steel’s batting at bay.
“Our bowlers kept us in the game. Credit was due to them, the way they handled themselves. I think de Lange was going for some runs and tonight he stepped up and did the job for us.
There was talk about having him dropped for this match.
“I think with his ability and pace on this pitch it’s very difficult to bat a guy like him once you back pitch the ball with the invariable bounce and I think he did that tonight. Getting the wicket of Jacques Kallis and coming back to get the wicket of Darren Bravo, I think that broke their backbone.”

By Stephan Sookram