Gibson annoyed with poor batting effort

News

Cricket365
June 12, 2014

West Indies coach Ottis Gibson was distinctly unimpressed with the way his side lost the first Test against New Zealand, losing by 186 run on day four in Jamaica after two poor batting innings.

The Black Caps removed the hosts for 262 in the first knock and then 216 in the second. Only Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle showed resistance in the first, making half tons, while no-one made a score of significance in the second knock.

The annoyed coach said after the match: "Obviously, [I'm] very disappointed with the way we batted especially.

"By all accounts, after the first day's play, we agreed in the dressing room afterwards that it was a flat pitch, so to have a batting performance like that over two innings is bitterly disappointing and something that we need to put right as quickly as possible.

"They have just go to occupy the crease and look at New Zealand, the way they went about it – making runs, starts, getting yourself in first, assessing the conditions, assessing the bowlers, scoring areas.

"We had five batsmen over two innings in our top six who made ducks and that puts your batting under pressure.

"First-innings runs have always been important. Any team that's going to win Test matches needs big first-innings runs. New Zealand showed that in the first innings, getting 500, and we didn't really respond.

"We needed to respond with a 450 or 500 score and take some more time and overs out of the game. We didn't do that. To get bowled out on that pitch in the second innings in 48 overs is very, very disappointing."

Gibson was more lenient on the bowlers, who he thought had done a good job considering many had been out of action before the match. Pacemen Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach both had long-term injuries, while spinner Shane Shillingford had to change his action.

Gibson said of the bowlers: "I thought the bowlers worked really hard. We went in with only two fast bowlers and two world-class spinners.

"When you look at workloads, I thought Jerome Taylor playing in his first Test after such a long time, stood up to that task very well and got better as the Test match went on.

"Kemar Roach, also, after a long layoff from injury and his shoulder surgery, got better as the Test match went on and bowled really well in the second innings as well.

"Taylor swung the new ball nicely and when he came back with the old ball, he was skillful and picked up wickets. Hopefully, he'll be fit and get through this Test series and, going forward, make us a stronger unit by being in the bowling attack."

On Shillingford, who had to change his action and is banned from bowling the doosra, Gibson said: "Shane as a bowler now is different to the Shane who can bowl a doosra.

"He bowled well, but not having a doosra meant that batsmen can just sit on his offbreak and just pick it off. He now has to develop a quality ball to compensate for the lack of his doosra."