Windies cannot be written off too early, says Joel Garner

The boys from the Caribbean are scheduled to lock horns with the Englishmen in a 3-match Test series, followed by a solitary T20 and 5 ODI matches. By the looks of it, the English side looks quite dominant at home, in comparison to a weak and inexperienced Windies team. England team would be rich in confidence, as they have just registered an incredible series win against a strong Proteas line-up. On the other hand, Windies have not played much white-ball cricket since their 2-1 series loss against Pakistan.

Former Windies legendary bowler Joel Garner, stated that its too early to write off the Caribbean team ahead of the Test series. He felt that the team is quite talented and has to play to its abilities to challenge the dominant hosts. As seen in the past few years, this Windies side lacks the composure and solid technique to play the longer format, when compared to the Era of mighty Caribbean attack including the some of the legends like Joel Garner and Michael Holding.

Too early to write them off

“It’s going to be some interesting times. I think people are writing the West Indies off too early and it could be at their own peril. Cricket is played in the middle at the end of the day. I think the fellas have got talent,” said Garner at an event staged by series sponsors Investec in London, as quoted by Sport24.

The first Test match of the series would be a day-night fixture at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground on Thursday. It would be the first day and night game in the English country in the longer format of the game. “It’s who makes the greatest adjustment in the day/night game. Games between England and the West Indies are competitive. I wouldn’t completely write them off,” added Garner.

On the preparations and the comeback of players

“Players are being encouraged to train harder and get fitter. We’ve always had players with ability, players with style and flair, but the lack of preparation at the top could have been part of the problem,” termed the fast bowler.

The Windies board finally agreed to include star players in the ODI side including the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy after the huge differences in the past. “We will welcome them back because they are our better players but at the present moment we are here to play cricket. We’ve got to work with what we’ve got. We still have fight,” said the 64-year old Garner.

“We can’t keep looking and saying ‘we’ll wait and see if the other players come back as well,” he added.