Andre Coley wants Windies batters to support their bowlers since it has been their bowlers who have kept them in matches.
Andre Coley said “It’s a new series, a new opportunity” ahead of the two-test series against Pakistan.
West Indies hasn’t won a Test match in Pakistan since November 1990, and their most recent series, played in Kingston in 2021, ended in a 1-1 draw. Although there have only been seven of these since that match, it’s also true that the West Indies’ best performance since that 1990 series was a draw in Multan in November 2006.
Since South Africa and Australia have advanced to the final and Pakistan and the West Indies are last in the nine-team standings, ranked eighth and ninth, respectively, the series forms part of the World Test Championship cycle but has no bearing on either side. Additionally, it’s an opportunity for Coley to end things well before Daren Sammy takes over.
“Once you play a series or a match there’s an opportunity in itself,” Coley said at a press interaction on Tuesday. “It’s not about us creating history, it’s about using the learnings from 2024 and that consistency that was inserted for the last 12 months, being more set around the brand of cricket we want to play.
“Different people in the squad who would have missed out on opportunities before can use this as an opportunity to do better and do it in conditions that could be different in some instances.
“When you talk about Test cricket, it’s not only the opposition’s skill that provides tests, but the different conditions, different environments, and different game situations provide those tests. And that’s why you want to play at this level and in this format, to test yourself over four-five days. The game could change so rapidly.”
Although it was one of only two victories for the West Indies in the whole WTC cycle thus far, their incredible eight-run victory over Australia in Brisbane in January was by far their strongest Test cricket performance of the previous year. It was authored by Shamar Joseph. Additionally, Andre Coley blamed the team’s inability to build on the bowlers’ efforts on the hitters’ inconsistent play.
“Obviously, Jayden [Seales] back to full fitness, Shamar Joseph making his debut in 2024, Alzarri Joseph… Kemar Roach has been a standout in terms of his leadership, on and off the field, with his skill and mentorship. [Gudakesh] Motie and [Jomel] Warrican have been consistent when given an opportunity,” Coley said, counting off his main bowlers, of whom the two Josephs are not in Pakistan. Anderson Phillip is, and Kevin Sinclair is the third spinner.
“We’ve seen a couple of innings where our batters have… Kavem Hodge scoring his first hundred, Alick Athanaze missing out on at least three; there have been instances where we have had significant partnerships from a batting perspective. But they haven’t really been very consistent and put ourselves in match-winning totals.
“The standout has been that we’ve been able to keep ourselves in Test matches on the back of our bowling, and what the young bowlers have done. It’s time, going forward in 2025, that the batsmen now, having been given certain opportunities to test their skills, to learn and translate those into performances.”