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Simmons eyeing change of narrative after World Cup fiasco

 
sgtdjones 2021-11-13 04:11:39 

Simmons eyeing change of narrative after World Cup fiasco

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Head coach Phil Simmons says West Indies are anxious to turn the page on the recent Twenty20 World Cup debacle but are anticipating a “difficult task” in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka starting later this month.
The Caribbean side was soundly thrashed in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, losing four of their five matches to finish one from the bottom of their group, and missing out on a spot in the final four.

While the upcoming series presents a chance for West Indies to redeem themselves, Simmons said the Kraigg Brathwaite-led side would have to display their “fighting spirit” in order to come away with a positive result.“After a huge disappointment like that, we want to get back to winning ways and especially winning away which we did at the start of the year,” said Simmons who has come under fire in wake of the T20 World Cup disappointment. It would be nice to finish the year the way we started it.”

He continued: “Facing them at home has always been a difficult task and it’s no different now. It’s a younger team. I think it’s going to be close to the team we had in the Caribbean. Quite a few of the young guys who played in that series are still there and it’s going to be a tough series. We know that. When you come to the subcontinent and play against these teams at home, it’s always going to be tough. We have to make sure that in this four-day game we get our fighting spirit especially when it comes to batting because that’s going to be the most difficult aspect of this tour.”


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sgtdjones 2021-11-13 04:21:39 

Windies' coach Simmons bracing for ‘heavy dose’ of Sri Lankan spin


WEST INDIES cricket team coach Phil Simmons is bracing for a heavy dose of spin during the two-Test series against hosts Sri Lanka later this month.

The West Indies team will face Sri Lanka, in Galle, from November 21-25 and November 29-December 3.

During a zoom media conference on Thursday, Simmons said, “It will be a heavy dose of spin. When they played against England (in January), they even opened their bowling with a spinner.

“We’re going to be focusing a lot on how we combat that spin with the new ball and bat as normal after that,” added the WI coach. “We played alright in Bangladesh (in the 2-0 Test series win in February). We need to bring that same sort of mentality that we had on that tour.”


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