… believes tour beneficial for reserve players

By Clifton Ross

WINDIES head coach Phil Simmons said his boys have been acclimatising well so far in New Zealand, stating that the team have already commenced going over their blueprints for the upcoming series.

With the warm-up games bowling off today against the New Zealand A team, preparation continues to build for the Caribbean Boys who, according to Simmons in a recent interview, said the acclimatisation process has so far been smooth since arriving.

“Things have been good, a few days are warm and a few days are cold but most of the days it’s bright and warm, so you know when it’s warm the West Indies team tend to thrive”, said Simmons.

With a lot of on-field logistics being worked out during the daily, steady practice sessions, Simmons highlighted that the mental preparation for the series, which includes roles and responsibilities, has also been a key aspect of their training.

“I think the big areas are consistency, especially in the bowling department and understanding the situation. Or in batting where we’ve had control of the game and persons may give away their wickets; so things like that are the main things we’re considering,” said the ex-Windies batsman.

Missing a few key players likes Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, coupled with playing in a series which they have yet to win on Kiwi soil, the Windies will have a number of important boxes to tick off; but a confident Simmons said he was trusting his guys to play their roles come game time.

” Well it’s been great (preparation), everybody has been looking to do what’s necessary, working hard and making sure they’re doing everything for the team right now so that has been great,” he said.

One huge take of this tour is a number of young Windies players the likes of Joshua DaSilva, Jayden Seales and others have gotten the opportunity to experience cricket at the highest levels, ideal preparation according to their coach for when they are fully ready to kickstart their own careers.

“It’s very beneficial (the tour) to all of them because they see what it’s like to be a part of a West Indies tour, to train with the West Indies team. So they work and we work with them even though they are reserves. It helps improve their game,”. Simmons highlighted.

In closing, he thanked and urged the fans back home to continue supporting their team, as, apart from winning for their fans and people, just being able to represent the Caribbean with pride and success is the team’s main priority.