(WICB) Nottingham, England – Darren Sammy said it was a good feeling to have completed his maiden Test hundred for West Indies in the second Test against the World No.1 England today.
Watched by his wife Cathy, the Windies captain made 106, following up Marlon Samuels’ third Test hundred of 117 to lift the Caribbean side to 370 in their first innings on the second day at a sun-drenched Trent Bridge.
“I have been hitting the ball really nicely since the start of the limited-overs matches in the Digicel Series against Australia in the Caribbean and this innings was about me spending time at the crease,” he said.
“I batted for 156 deliveries. I do not know the last time I faced so many balls. The team benefitted and it was exceptional for the team, given the position in which we found ourselves on the opening day [on Friday].”
Sammy said the best part of the innings was batting with Samuels, as they established a record seventh-wicket partnership for any team playing a Test in England. They put on 204.
“Marlon is a very quiet, cool guy, but he goes about his business in a serious way,” he said.
“We just decided to play what we see and I think the results speak for themselves. I’m really happy about my innings, but the job is not done. We still have some work to do.”
He noted: “It was good to get a maiden Test hundred, but from a team perspective, we didn’t bat the way we should have [on Saturday].
“The plan was for me and Marlon to see out the first hour, and look to get a big total of over 450, but we gave our wickets away in the end.”
Sammy said West Indies would have to work incredibly hard to restrict England when the Test resumes on Sunday.
He felt the visitors had under-achieved on Saturday, as England reached 259 for two at the close, following Andrew Strauss’ 21st Test hundred and solid support from Kevin Pietersen.
Strauss collected his second hundred of the series, an undefeated 102, and Pietersen was unbeaten on 72 to put the home team in a favourable position.
“The pitch is really good for batting and we bowled far too many four-balls both sides of the wicket and they scored quite freely,” said Sammy.
Sammy also defended Kemar Roach. The West Indies strike bowler had a tough day having Alastair Cook caught behind twice off no-balls.
“Once you bowl no-balls, you stand a chance of these things happening,” said Sammy. “But Kemar has always given his heart to this team.
“Throughout this series, he has been playing with an ankle niggle, but he keeps running in, day in and day out. It’s always disappointing when a bowler bowls a good ball and gets the result, but it’s a no-ball. He kept going and created a few more opportunities.
“But Kemar said he was coming up an incline and he seemed to be struggling to find his rhythm. He was barely going over the line. It’s something that he and [West Indies coach] Ottis [Gibson] can work on. I’m not worried. He will work it out before the match ends.”
