As the West Indies heads into their five-match T20 series against Australia, white-ball captain Kieron Pollard has conceded that the team struggles with rotating the strike but says they are constantly working to resolve the problem.
He does admit, however, that there are limitations to what they are able to do and when.
The West Indies – two-time T20 World Champions – lost the just concluded five-game series 3-2 to South Africa primarily because the team consistently failed to chase modest totals despite the presence of a number of power hitters in its batting lineup. Statistics showed that while they have out-hit their opponents with sixes and fours, it is in the rotating of the strike that the team is weakest allowing as many as eight overs per match in ‘dot balls’.
Pollard believes the situation could become a concern, especially when it seems that the players are not able to deliver in situations when they are unable to blast balls to or over the boundary.
“Actually, the results will show what they actually do under pressure,” Pollard said in a pre-series press conference on Thursday, “then we as individuals will have to take stock and decide what happens next. At the minute, we admit, yes, we are struggling. Yes, we are not great at rotating the strike but what we can do is just try to improve in that aspect of it, and it can become a concern.
“We concede that, yes, that is what it is and we try to improve every time.”
However, there are limitations to how much time the team spends trying to address the problem as there is often little time available to work on fixing the issue before and during series.
“Before the series we have time, we might get open nets,” he explained.
“We got some open nets in Grenada (prior to the South Africa series), which was fantastic. So we were able to work on our manoeuvring game, rotating the strike in a couple of sessions, whereas no boundaries we’re just looking to rotating the ball, so we had that opportunity.”
He explained further that once a series begins there is hardly any time available for the players to work on situations that might pop up once the matches begin.
“When you play a series or in-between a series, you play two games back-to-back, you have one-day rest, you play another game and you have one-day rest, the toll it takes on the body of the individual is very high,” he said.
“How much can you actually work, from a practical perspective, to get it right; and to also get an open net in order to get it done, because within the confinements of the nets, how much assistance can you get? So sometimes between series, it is very difficult for that to take place.
“With that being said, the most at times we can do is have conversations, the most at times, is show guys visuals of what we expect and what they do in these scenarios and when we do get the opportunity, we try to work on it as much as possible.
“Like yesterday (Wednesday), we didn’t get an open net but we got a net where we can rotate the strike, we were looking for singles, we were looking for gaps, not necessarily power hitting and if you do that, if you hit a six or a boundary, there are consequences so that’s the only way.
“So when we get the opportunity to do it, we do it, the other times we just have to speak about it and hope that it resonates with the guys and hope that when we get onto the field, it works.”
The first match in the five-match T20 series bowls off this evening at 7:30 pm (6:30 in Jamaica) at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia.
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ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
Bairstow set sights on swift England Test return
Jonny Bairstow bit back when asked if he was targeting an England return, insisting it is "all I want to do."
Bairstow was dropped from England's Test team for the ongoing series against West Indies.
The 34-year-old was part of England's T20 World Cup squad, and played in all five Tests of the tour of India earlier this year.
Bairstow has made 100 Test appearances, and when asked what his immediate target was, the wicketkeeper-batsman told former England captain and now-BBC Sport pundit Michael Vaughan: "All I want to do is play for England. That's end of.
"You don't need to ask me that do you? I think you know me well enough and I think you've known me for long enough to know that."
Bairstow did, however, enjoy a break away from the game, having had four weeks off before he joined the Welsh Fire for the Hundred.
He said: "At the same time it's been a great period of time.
"I had the best part of seven months away from home. Since January, I had five nights at home in my own bed since, until three weeks ago.
"That's the thing you have to sacrifice, time at home but at the same time, when you are away for that period of time, it takes its toll."
England are 2-0 up against the Windies in their three-match series, with the final Test starting at Edgbaston on Friday.
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