SOUTHAMPTON, England, CMC – West Indies bowling coach Corey Collymore believes veteran Chris Gayle will relish the challenge of taking on Barbadian speed sensation, Jofra Archer, in tomorrow’s World Cup fixture against England which he expects to be a “lively game”.
Archer has been consistently the fastest bowler on show in the tournament and his new-ball spell against the ultra aggressive Gayle is already one of the highly anticipated match-ups of the clash at Southampton.
“Chris thrives on that,” said Collymore, himself a former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler.
“I have known him since he was 16 and he has always loved a challenge. He has always enjoyed the challenge of fast bowling so I expect him to relish that.
“I have known Archer for a while and I saw (Mark) Wood in the Caribbean last year. They are both very impressive, as we have seen throughout this tournament.”
He added: “I did work with him [Archer] when he was a lot younger in Barbados. He was very impressive, the skills he shows now are ones we always had so are expecting more of the same from him.”
The left-handed Gayle was at his best against England in the Caribbean earlier this year when he plundered 424 runs inclusive of two hundreds, as West Indies earned a 2-2 series draw against the world number ones. Then, he struck an amazing 39 sixes in the tournament, displaying little fear in taking on the England attack which included speedster Wood.
Friday’s game will bring together some of the fastest bowlers in the tournament, with West Indies’ Oshane Thomas, Sheldon Cottrell and Andre Russell already making life difficult for opposing batsmen in their three games to date.
“We have quick bowlers too so it should be a lively game. We have shown what we can do with our fast bowlers – we are good enough to take wickets with the new ball and then go from there,” Collymore noted. “I don’t think many people like the short stuff, whether it is England or the West Indies. If you find a batsman that has a weakness to it, then you go after that.”
He continued: “The West Indies have always produced fast bowlers. The two nations that have always had talented fast bowlers for me are the West Indies and Pakistan.
“From years gone by, that was something we prided ourselves on and now you see we have some more coming through.”
