Dyson: We go out there to fight
West Indies head coach John Dyson says that the West Indies team is cultivating an unrelenting fighting spirit which is beginning to pay dividends.
We go out there to fight no matter what the situation of the match, when we went out to bowl this afternoon we said this is what we need to do, this is how we're going to do it and the two of them (Daren Powell and Fidel Edwards) did it beautifully," Dyson told reporters at the end of the third day of the First Digicel Test at Sabina Park where Australia were left in tatters at 17 for 4 with Powell and Edwards blasting away the top order.
The West Indies, led by Shivnarine Chanderpaul's resolute 118, made 312 in response to Australia's first innings total of 431.
Australia has an overall lead of 136 with six wickets in hand.Dyson was lavish in praise for his fast bowlers and Chanderpaul's defiant century but said that he would also like to see the younger batsmen capitalize on opportunities.
"One of our main batsmen (Chanderpaul) did that (played a fine innings) in a beautiful fashion and I want some of the less profile players to make contributions as well. Runako (Morton) today got a terrific 67 it would have been just fantastic if he had kept going and get a hundred and the same with (Dwayne) Bravo, spectacular little innings to watch but you just wish it went for another hour and a half," Dyson said.
Dyson also revealed that he expected Chanderpaul, who was floored by a Brett Lee bouncer when on 86, to take the field on the fourth day after doing precautionary brain scans at the end of the third day.
"He's (Chanderpaul) off getting a precautionary scan to make sure there is no bad damage, from what the physio (CJ Clarke) has said it was very good that he was wearing a helmet, I expect him to take full part tomorrow, we're very confident that the scan would show no major damage," Dyson said.
Returning to the performance of his fast bowlers Dyson said the team environment has improved and the players are now more comfortable than under the tenure of previous coaches and managers.
"There is some good team spirit, they are enjoying their cricket more than they have for a long time and consequently we're seeing them play some good stuff, it (getting rid of the Australian top order) was really pleasing, we could have folded but we discussed what we needed to do and the guys just executed it perfectly," Dyson explained.
He said that the lower order falling apart cost the West Indies in their run chase.
"We played a bad hour today and it cost us pretty badly but that's cricket, if you play a bad hour you have to go and make up for that somewhere," Dyson said.
He warned though that the team was not yet performing at its optimum and that there is much room for improvement.
"I think we have some way to go before we can say we are getting the most out of the team, I think there are some areas we can definitely improve upon, what we want to see is this team consistently playing good competitive cricket and I think we're making good strides towards that," Dyson added.
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