Richards looks for greater consistency
Christchurch - New coach Sir Viv Richards is looking for more consistency from the West Indies team in the two Tests against New Zealand later this month
02-Dec-1999
Christchurch - New coach Sir Viv Richards is looking for more
consistency from the West Indies team in the two Tests against New
Zealand later this month.
The West Indies have had a roller-coaster ride in Test cricket
recently, following a 5-0 whitewash in South Africa last season with a
2-2 draw in the home series with Australia, inspired by Brian Laras
batting that brought scores of 213, 153 not out and 100 in successive
Tests.
That result was achieved without an injured Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a
key middle-order batsman, and has encouraged Richards as he looks to
the future.
That was a great series. We were leading 2-1 going into the last Test
match. And look what Australia has been doing in Test match cricket
since then, the former captain, and the West Indies leading scorer in
Tests, said.
We have clicked on occasions, he noted. If we could click a little
more consistently, that is what people who care about West Indian
cricket are looking for.
Richards, with the sun on his back for the first time since the teams
arrival in Christchurch last Sunday, was satisfied that his younger
players were progressing in the nets.
Theres some ability here and the main thing is to assess the
conditions in New Zealand as early as possible, he said.
After tomorrows Super Max match at Jade Stadium here, in which the
West Indies will experience a new, shortened form of the game for the
first time, they have a three-day game against New Zealand A at
Taupo and a four-dayer with Auckland to prepare themselves for the
first Test in Hamilton December 16-20.
The second Test follows at Wellington December 26-30 after which the
teams go into the series of five One-Day Internationals.
Richards hinted that he is prepared to give his new, young players -
like batsmen Adrian Griffith, Wavell Hinds and Ricardo Powell and fast
bowlers Pedro Collins and Reon King - a second chance.
Its only two Tests and, to be fair, any guy can go and have a bad
Test match, he said. That doesnt mean hes a bad player.
Richards toured New Zealand in 1987 when he was captain in a
three-match series that ended in a 1-1 deadlock. He missed the
controversial 1980 series through injury.
Richards New Zealand counterpart, David Trist, said yesterday he
still expected the West Indies to have plenty of fast bowling
firepower in the Tests.
They ruled by fear and by skill in the 1980s and early 1990s,
acknowledged Trist, but I think the West Indians remain very
competitive with their new ball attack.
Trist is wary of a public perception in New Zealand that the current
West Indies bowling battery is toothless compared to its predecessors.
It is a perception heightened by the absence of Curtly Ambrose because
of an elbow injury. It means the 37-year-old Courtney Walsh fronts a
fast-medium attack which includes recalled Franklyn Rose, Mervyn
Dillon, Reon King and left-armer Pedro Collins, who have played only
22 Tests between them - against Walshs 110 and Ambroses 88.
Because they are rebuilding, I believe it is very important they
dont lure us into a false sense of security, said Trist