'Too Many Spilled Catches'

West Indies head coach Gus Logie is lamenting the poor quality of the team's fielding throughout the tour of England, insisting the situation "must be improved for the Test matches."

"Too many catches were spilled and there were fumbles in the outfield. We have to show a lot more concentration when we are out there in the middle and it is something that individuals will have to work on as well as collectively we will have to continue to work on that area of our game," Logie said.

There were four dropped catches in the MCC second innings and several missed run-out chances.

"One of the positives of this game (v MCC at Arundel) is that we won it but obviously there were a lot of areas of concern. The out-cricket is something that can be improved, must be improved for the test matches," Logie added.

It has been a recurring theme in recent years with muffed catches, comical outfielding and poor running between the wickets becoming a staple in the West Indies team. The last two head coaches -- Logie and Roger Harper -- were themselves among the best fielders of their time but both have been unable to improve the team's fielding fortunes.

On the day the West Indies held on for an unconvincing 29-run win against an MCC side described by captain Brian Lara as of poor quality, Logie also had some harsh words for the team's batting. "We scored 300 plus in the first innings but a further assessment would show that two players got centuries so it shows that some of the younger players did not grasp the opportunity to address the selectors in a positive way in this game. And that is of concern to us as the management."

"We have talented players but their focus must be getting in there and batting for the team and to make sure that they tough it out and come out on top. These games are games in which we look forward to seeing the youngsters improving but it's a little bit disheartening to see, at the end of the day, that none of our young middle order players had any score of note in either innings," the head coach added.

Logie said the team will be concentrating on slip catching in the nets. "We have to continue working on our out-cricket with a certain level of seriousness. The concentration span of the youngsters seem to wane when they are out there in the middle and it is something we have to work on a lot in our training session."

He also slammed the bowlers for being too inconsistent. "The bowlers today, were consistent at times but were inconsistent at other times. I think 'situation assessment' and 'pitch assessment' are another two areas that they need to work on."

"Credit must go to Pedro (Collins) because of all the bowlers he looked the pick of them especially after coming in only a few days ago. Jermaine (Lawson) is bowling a bit quickly but the line and consistency are not there at the moment but he is looking a lot better in terms of his own fitness," he added.

The West Indies coach defended his team against criticisms in the media that they lacked intensity at practice sessions. "Those who criticize the intensity of our training, what do they see? On the morning of a game it is a warm-up, not a training session. Our training sessions are a lot more intense than our warm-up sessions before a game and I think most of the commentators see us on the morning of a game when we're warming up which is a different thing."

"I don't think that you come on the morning of a game to do intense training, I think that has to be done in our training session and that is what we do in our training session. I don't see commentators at our training sessions, I see commentators on the morning of our games and if they expect you to run around for 25 minutes at a hundred miles per hour that will never happen. We have to understand the difference between a warm-up session and a training session."