PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) - Dismissed last Sunday for their lowest
Test total of 47 that led to a shocking 10-wicket defeat in the opening cricket Test, another defeat for West Indies in the second Test against England, starting at Queen’s Park Oval today, would spell disaster.
West Indies have not lost a series to England on home soil since 1968, but Sunday’s debacle that gave Michael Vaughan’s side a 1-0 lead has placed enormous pressure on Brian Lara’s side to square the four-match series over the next five days.
After England gained a modest first innings lead of 28, West Indies capitulated in just over two hours on the fourth morning with fast bowler Steve Harmison taking a career-best seven for 12.
“There is a recognition that we did pretty poorly on the fourth day in the first Test match,” Lara told reporters on the eve of the Test.
“But there is also the recognition that on the first three days in Jamaica it was quite even, so we will take that positive into this Test match.”
With Lara and the other senior players in the side acknowledging that they had faltered badly in the opening Test, the West Indies captain is confident they would all put it right.
“I think the guys have been very upbeat,” Lara said. “We have all spoken and realised where we went wrong and we are looking forward to correct it.
“We’ve done a lot of work behind the scenes getting the team spirit back to the level where it was before the first Test match. The first and most important thing is the guys realising that we were very competitive with the England team.
“It’s a matter of putting that out of our minds -- the two hours on the fourth morning in Jamaica -- and getting our act together for this Test match. It’s important that we understand that we have to win this Test match.”
Though Lara’s side is a shadow of the great West Indies sides under Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards, Vaughan and England are very wary of a backlash the home team.
“We’re 1-0 up and if we can have a good first day and try and get another psychological edge over West Indies it’s going to be crucial,” he said.
“We’ve got a bit of an edge, but you just need to look at England a few years ago being bowled out for 46 and going on to win the next match in Barbados.”
Vaughan believes the prospects look good for another very exciting Test match, but his side must not take the challenge lightly.
“The two days after the win in Jamaica were fantastic, but as soon as we got off the plane in Trinidad the focus was purely on the next game,” he said.
“We try to forget and just put that into the cupboard that we are leading 1-0. We’re just trying to focus on this match and, hopefully, the team will respond.”
If there is one ground in the Caribbean that West Indies would like to avoid for this crucial match it would be the Queen’s Park Oval.
The previous seven matches at the ground have all ended in a winning result, but West Indies have been on the wrong side five times. Their only wins were against England in 1998 and Zimbabwe two years later.
Both sides were to announce their final 11 late yesterday.
Squads:
WEST INDIES (from): Brian Lara (captain), Tino Best, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Chris Gayle, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacobs, Ricardo Powell, Adam Sanford, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith.
ENGLAND (from): Michael Vaughan (captain), James Anderson, Gareth Batty, Mark Butcher, Rikki Clarke, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Ashley Giles, Stephen Harmison, Nasser Hussain, Matthew Hoggard, Geraint Jones, Simon Jones, Chris Read, Andrew Strauss, Marcus Trescothick, Graham Thorpe.
UMPIRES: Daryl Harper, Brent Bowden (TV Replays: Eddie Nicholls).