(CMC) – Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich on Sunday hailed the quality of West Indies’ pace attack and believes it can be the decisive factor in next month’s three-Test series against England.

The Caribbean side have travelled with five seamers in their main 14-man Test squad but have access to a further six – including the experienced Shannon Gabriel – in 11 reserves which are also on tour.

Dowrich said the Windies attack was now more experienced than ever and capable of making the adjustments that were so critical when bowling in English conditions.
“Obviously home advantage will come into play [for England’s bowlers] but if you look at our pace attack, most of the guys have played here already so I think they have an understanding of the conditions,” Dowrich told reporters via Zoom from quarantine at Old Trafford.

“We’ve got Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel and those guys are in the top 20 in the world. They understand their games and they know how to adjust well to different conditions so I think that will work well for us going into the series.”

He added: “I’m not one to compare eras but if you look around at the statistics it will show that these guys are quality and they can come up against any team in the world and perform.”

West Indies quicks have improved leaps and bounds in recent times leading to a significant improvement in their respective ICC rankings.

Captain Jason Holder is the highest ranked at number three to be also number one in the all-rounders charts while Roach lies 11th and Gabriel, 19th.

Uncapped 22-year-old Chemar Holder is on his first West Indies tour but impressed in the recent first class championship with 36 wickets, bowling with pace and hostility.
Dowrich said the strength of the pace attack was the diversity it presented.

“If you look at the main four – Shannon, Kemar, Jason and Chemar – I think they all present different skills,” explained the 28-year-old Dowrich.
“Kemar is probably the most skilful out of all of them in terms of being able to hit a consistent line and length and move the ball both ways.

Shannon and Alzarri have a little more pace and Jason is ‘Mr Consistent’ – he can put the ball on a ten cent piece – so I think we bring a whole dynamic.

“And obviously now we have young Chemar Holder now coming up who’s an exciting talent and the way he bowled in first class cricket this season shows that so I think we have a well versed attack. In fact, I’m excited to see them go in this series.”
Dowrich, who averages 30 from 31 Tests since making his debut five years ago, also has a point to prove in the upcoming series.

On his last tour here three years ago, the pint-sized gloveman endured a wretched time with the bat, scraping a mere 24 runs from six innings.
Since then, Dowrich has notched three hundreds – including one against England in the Caribbean last year – and conceded the failures on the 2017 tour had been a turning point in his career.

“The last time I was here it was very tough for me and I think it was a series that really changed around my career,” he explained.

“I was young, I was in unfamiliar territory to be honest and I really didn’t cope well with it but since then I’ve been able to go away and I’ve learnt a lot from experience up here last time and I consider myself a different player to what I was three years ago.
“Obviously it’s still going to be a challenge. Playing in England [and] batting will always be a challenge but I think I’m ready and up for that challenge.

He continued: “I’ve always considered myself as a genuine wicketkeeper/batsman but obviously that innings (hundred against England) did a lot for me and gave me a lot of confidence but going forward I think I just need to continue to be consistent and do what is necessary to help the team win.

“I would love to score a Test hundred in England. Obviously scoring runs away from home is always a challenge but I think if you’re going to rate yourself as a player you have to be able to do it and I think I’ve been putting in enough work to come out with something during this series.”

West Indies take on England in the opening Test at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton starting July 8.