Phil Simmons: West Indies will be ready and looking to defend our trophy

Sun, Jun 14, '20

Not since their 1980s heyday have West Indies won a Test series in England, but two aspects of the forthcoming three-match encounter could work in their favour, according to head coach Phil Simmons. First, due to the behind-closed-doors nature of the Tests, in response to Covid-19, there will be no supporters in the stands to cheer the home side on; and second, instead of being halfway through their summer, England have not played competitive cricket for several months.

"I don't know if it will increase our chances, because both teams are under the same umbrella - for want of a better word," Simmons said. "The nice part for us is that 20,000 Englishmen raving for England, and that crowd support, it's not there for them. So that in a way will help us, so it's good from that point of view."

Asked about the standing start for both teams, he added: "It's a plus, because England hasn't come from a tour recently, and we've just been playing cricket at home. Because in a normal situation we would have been coming from camps and England would have been halfway through their season and the series would have been going on right now. So I think that is a plus for us, because it evens out things a little bit, with the fact they haven't been playing competitive cricket for a while also."

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