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WEST Indies head coach Phil Simmons was satisfied that his batsmen spent time in the middle during the three-day practice match against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI, which ended on Sunday.
West Indies will bowl off a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Chattogram on Tuesday from 11.30 pm, TT time.
An inexperienced West Indies team were recently defeated 3-0 by Bangladesh in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series. More than ten players chose not to tour Bangladesh because of covid19, personal fears or personal reasons.
ODI captain Kieron Pollard, Test captain Jason Holder, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran and Roston Chase are some of the players who declined to tour.
There is more experience on the West Indies Test team as the team will be led by opening batsman Kraigg Brathwaite. Middle-order batsman Jermaine Blackwood and the fast bowling pair of Shannon Gabriel and Kemar Roach are the other seasoned campaigners.
In the drawn practice match West Indies posted 257 in the first innings, followed by 291 in the second.
[caption id="attachment_870530" align="alignnone" width="1024"] West Indies’ Raymon Reifer (R) andwicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva run between the wickets during a tour match between West Indies and Bangladesh Cricket Board XI at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong on January 31. - (AFP PHOTO)[/caption]
Brathwaite cracked 85 in the first innings, fellow opener John Campbell scored 44 and Kyle Mayers pitched in with 40.
In the second innings, Nkrumah Bonner made 80, Campbell 68, Raymon Reifer 49 not out and Joshua Da Silva 46. Campbell is yet to cement his place on the Test team and those innings should give him confidence heading into the Test series.
Simmons, asked if he was buoyed by the performance of the batsmen, said, “Buoyed in a way that guys spent time at the crease. The wicket wasn’t the best. I can’t say we will or we won’t get a wicket similar to it (in the first Test), but it wasn’t the best it was slow, it was low…the attitude towards batting on a slow, low pitch that was turning was great to see.”
West Indies have played more cricket than Bangladesh over the past year during the covid19 pandemic touring England and New Zealand in 2020.
However, Simmons said Bangladesh will still have the advantage because of home conditions.
“I don’t think it will give us an edge. I think Bangladesh will always have the edge no matter who they are playing at home because they are a very strong side when they play at home. They will always have the edge even though they have not played any cricket for a year.”
 
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