West Indies head coach Phil Simmons believes that the lack of England’s experienced pacers Stuart Broad and James Anderson will not have a significant impact on the team because there are still many talented bowlers in the stream, where the West Indies will confront England in a three-match test series beginning from 08 March.
England’s most recent Test match was an 0-4 defeat in the Ashes. The England selection panel has made some important requirements for West Indies Tests as various flaws in the squad have been highlighted.
Experienced fast bowler James Anderson & Stuart Broad have been ruled out of the series, forcing England to deploy a fresh and young bowling team. Despite Anderson and Broad being 2 of England’s leading wicket-takers in Tests, many believe their unavailability will offer the West Indies a significant advantage. But, the Windies’ head coach, Phil Simmons, is on different prospects.
England has young fellas who are hungry to make their name: Coach Simmons
Anderson and Stuart Broad, who already have grabbed a collective 1,177 scalps in Tests, were not included in England’s 16-man squad suffering a 4-0 Ashes hammering in Australia, however, Simmons advised his team to be cautious.
“Everyone keeps harping on about the fact that there’s no Broad, no Anderson, Yes, England might not have the experience, but they have young fellas who are hungry to make their name. That is something that you have to guard against. For me, you can’t be saying ‘that’s a big advantage’ because then you tend to get complacent and you get found out. There’s still some quality bowlers in there who we have to bat against,” Simmons said in an Interaction.
The Windies returned from their visit to India the previous month with no win to their side, dropping both the ODI and T20I series 3-0 as Windies batsmen underperformed.
Simmons underlined the importance of gaining strength to begin the innings, and he expected that the beginning combination of Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell will be capable to provide the squad with a solid foundation to build on.
“I think the last time England were here, and we beat them, the opening pair was Kraigg and John Campbell. So let’s hope that’s a good omen for us, because they are back together and they gave the team some good starts. So that’s what we’ve been talking about, getting a good start and then making sure that the top four put things together and not leave it for the middle and lower order,” he added.
“We’ll see what happens over the next four or five days. This team was selected for the first Test, so we’ll see where he’s at and then we can make a decision on the second Test”, he concluded.
