WI wary of confused Englishmen

LEEDS: Despite England being in apparent disarray following successive heavy defeats, the West Indies remain wary of any semblance of overconfidence heading into their third match of the NatWest Series against the hosts today. Beaten by seven wickets by the Caribbean side at Nottingham on Sunday, and suffering an even more embarrassing loss to New Zealand by the same margin in Durham two days later, another setback under lights at Headingley could effectively end their chances of reaching the final on July 10 at Lord’s.

The level of public condemnation of the England team by their former Test players in the media and calls for wholesale changes would all seem to work in favour of the West Indies, but Brian Lara knows only too well that, particularly in the shorter version of the game, it sometimes only takes one moment of individual brilliance to spark a turnaround. “We started on a positive note, yes, but if you look at the table New Zealand are ahead, so we need to win to ensure we go back to the top and that’s what we’re aiming to do,” said the West Indies captain yesterday after his team had a lengthy workout in the new indoor nets at Headingley as persistent rainfall kept them off the field.

“We are still in the early stages of the tournament and we’re looking at this match as a must-win situation and move on from there.”  With nine points from two matches, the West Indies are just three points behind New Zealand, who have played three matches, and six ahead of the English. But Lara emphasises his concerns are not about the hosts’ woes but in ensuring his team makes amends for the corresponding tournament four years ago and at least advance to the final.  “England’s situation is not our worry. Our worry is to make sure that we win and qualify for the final early up so that we know we are there, and can prepare for the final in the remaining matches,” he explained. One factor that is difficult to prepare for however, is the weather, as more rain is forecast on match-day, making planning very difficult as the West Indies discovered in their rain-ruined opener against New Zealand last Saturday in Birmingham.

“We can’t do anything about the weather. We’ve just got to play to the best of our ability,” Lara added.  “We’re going to have to assess which option is best for the team —  batting or bowling first —  if rain affects the match. I still feel, as you’ve seen, that the results so far are going in favour of the team batting second, but what a great psychological advantage it would be for us if we lost the toss and still went on to win the game.” Lara’s attitude towards day/night ODIs in England is not as clear-cut as in the last tour of South Africa, where the West Indies were almost desperate to bat first to avoid batting under lights, when the ball tended to play many more tricks. “It will be a factor if the weather stays as it is now, but as we all know in England in summer the sun doesn’t set until 9.30, almost 10 pm, so at least the first two-and-a-half hours batting second would still be under proper light,” the champion batsman noted. “But if the weather stays as it is now, then we might need the lights even for the team batting first, and there will have to be different considerations.”

In contrast to their opponents, who are likely to ring the changes to try and turn their fortunes around, the West Indies are set to name an unchanged 11 as with the exception of occasional wayward bowling, the team’s plans were executed to perfection at Trent Bridge. The entire squad was required to watch England’s capitulation to the Black Caps at Chester-le-Street from their hotel rooms and after also analysing their performances at the weekend via videotapes, Lara is encouraged by the attitude towards such sessions.  “We are doing a lot of classroom cricket, teaching the guys different situations and we’re getting a lot of positive responses,” he revealed.  “You hear them emphasising how important it is for Chris (Gayle) and Shiv (Chanderpaul) to bat through the first 15 overs and how the bowlers need to make early breakthroughs. It’s very heartening to hear that sort of talk.”

ENGLAND —  Michael Vaughan (captain), Marcus Trescothick, Robert Key, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Strauss, Geraint Jones, Anthony McGrath, Ashley Giles, Darren Gough, Steve Harmison, James Anderson.
WEST INDIES (probable) —  Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Dwayne Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ricardo Powell, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs, Ian Bradshaw, Ravi Rampaul, Jermaine Lawson.