KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin has called on the Caribbean side to stand up and be counted, as they go in search of a series-levelling victory in the second Test against Australia which bowls off at Sabina Park here today.
The Windies are still reeling from a nine-wicket drubbing inside three days in the opening Test at Windsor Park in Dominica last week, but are hoping to turn around that form in time to carve a positive result over the next five days.
Ramdin told reporters here yesterday that the side were focussed on a positive result but needed to put in the work that was needed to achieve this.
“It would be great for us to go out there and level the series. We came back well against England and we showed character and I think we can do it again in this match. The guys have that self-belief, we’ve worked hard for the last two days and we are raring to go,” a confident Ramdin said.
“They’re going to come hard at us, they’re a team that comes hard all the time. We need to stand up as players and be counted for which is very important, and for the guys who get starts to go on.
“We saw when we put them under some pressure in Dominica with Marlon (Samuels) and young (Shane) Dowrich were batting, they looked a bit down until they got one wicket and they came back into the game, which we need to do.”
West Indies found themselves in a similar situation during the recent England series. They drew the first game in Antigua but lost the second in Grenada by nine wickets, to fall behind 0-1 in the three-Test series.
However, the rebounded spectacularly in the third Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados to hammer out a five-wicket win inside three days, to level the series.
Ramdin said West Indies would be drawing on this for added confidence.
“It is good inspiration knowing we can do it. We did it already and we would like to do it again in this match so the confidence level is there with all the guys so I can’t see why we can’t do it we just need that self-belief and start.”
West Indies’ batting was poor in both innings in Dominica. They were bundled out for 148 in the first innings and after trailing by 170 runs, collapsed from 181 for three to be all out for 216 in their second innings.
Ramdin was careful to pinpoint the batting as an area of concern, pointing out that the batsmen needed to carry on to big scores after getting starts.
“We need to bat well in the first innings and put up a good score. If they bat first, we need to shut them out for as cheaply as possible,” he explained.
“They have a good batting line up but I think our bowlers on this pitch will do a good job for us, so hopefully we can get that right. In the second innings as well, at least two of our batters need to put up their hands and get centuries.
“We don’t just want to get starts and don’t carry on. We haven’t had any centuries as yet so we need guys to score centuries.”
He continued: “The team that we have is a very young team. They are very inexperienced [but] I think we need to show a lot more fight. We did that in parts in Dominica.
“I think playing here at Sabina we will get a lot of support as there are a lot of guys from Jamaica who will be playing here and they will want to come out and show the fans … and give a hundred per cent.”
Sabina Park have been a happy hunting ground for West Indies over the years, with the hosts winning eight of their last 14 Tests at the venue. They have only won two of their last five, however, and lost to New Zealand in the last game there last year, falling by 186 runs.
Ramdin said he believed the pitch would provide a good contest.
“It’s good to have some grass on it. Over the years it has been dry and spinners have come into play,” he noted.
“I believe it is going to still spin, the one in Dominica had grass and it spun and (Devendra) Bishoo did well for himself and the team. I believe it is going to be a good match here.”
West Indies are unchanged for the Test.
SQUAD: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Kraigg Brathwaite, Shai Hope, Darren Bravo, Shane Dowrich, Marlon Samuels, Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Devendra Bishoo, Shannon Gabriel, Jerome Taylor, Rajindra Chandrika, Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach.
