BELEAGUERED West Indies skipper Chris Gayle says his side must improve their focus if they are to have a chance of winning the World Twenty20.

The Windies go into the tournament, which starts on June 5, on the back of demoralising 2-0 defeats by England in both Test and one-day series.

“It’s the shorter version so maybe we can concentrate a bit more,” he said.

“We lapsed in the Test matches and one-dayers but hopefully in the shorter version we will put up a better fight.”

West Indies have been comprehensively outplayed throughout the spring, with Gayle’s team failing to claim a morale-boosting win in the final one-day international at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

But Gayle is happy that his side have had more preparation than some of their rivals going into the World Twenty20.

“That could be an advantage for us and hopefully we can put that into play,” he added.

“We can put this behind us and try to be ready for the T20s. I am not a schoolteacher. Everyone should try to take responsibility and try to learn as quickly as possible.

“It is a different format of the game ahead of us. If concentration comes into play, this will be better for us.”

Gayle has scored the only hundred in a Twenty20 international to date while the majority of his Windies team were members of the Stanford Superstars, who thrashed England last November.

However, they have a disappointing overall record in the format, with four wins and two ties in 11 internationals.

The West Indies are in Group C of the World Twenty20 with Australia and Sri Lanka and are looking to arrange games against Scotland and Ireland this week as part of their final preparations.

Gayle says his side should learn from how England went about building their innings in the one-day victories in Bristol and Edgbaston.

“From my point of view we should look at how England go about things batting-wise,” he said.

“If we can take a leaf out of their book on how they go about the start of their innings, and in that middle period when they build momentum by manipulating the ball around the field to pick up ones and twos, with the odd boundary, it will be useful for us.”

West Indies begin their World Twenty20 campaign against Australia at the Oval on June 6. (BBC Sport)