LONDON – Adrian Barath said West Indies batsmen had shown great determination in their battle against England’s “pumped-up” bowlers in challenging conditions in the first Test on Thursday.
The Windies opener said it was disappointing to lose nine wickets on the opening day at Lord’s, but the visitors had fought gallantly while the sky remained overcast for most of the day and England’s bowlers, led by Stuart Broad, also exploited a helpful pitch.
“I think we played well [in the circumstances],” said Barath. “This is the first Test here [for many of us] and we played in heavy overcast conditions. England sent us in to bat and the pitch had something in it.
“Getting to 243 for nine with Shiv [Chanderpaul] still at the wicket was a good effort. We expect Shiv to get a hundred and give the total a boost. Then it’s important for us to bowl well and get among the wickets.”
Barath, playing a Test at Lord’s for the first time, defied the form book, batting through lunch to score 42 that offered West Indies a base.
“Playing at Lord’s is a special occasion,” he said. “I have thought long about how I wanted to play. We had discussions in our team meetings about their bowlers. Our coach [Ottis Gibson] was the England bowling coach at one time and this helped us a bit.
“For me, it’s building on this start that I got. Unfortunately, I did not carry on and get a bigger score. Hopefully, I will take it from strength to strength and carry on in the second innings and help West Indies win this game.”
Barath struck nine fours – mostly an array of rasping off-side drives – in an innings that lasted 101 balls, looking at ease in the conditions before he was caught at gully off Broad.
“In this series, we are looking to play the mental game,” he said. “Play with a lot of patience.
“We have to make up in our minds that we have to play and leave a lot of balls. We recognise that if we cannot do this, it will be very difficult. Shiv showed the kind of patience that’s required. He has a fantastic record in England, so that’s a bonus for our team.”
A typically resolute, unbeaten 87 from Chanderpaul propped up the batting, as the veteran left-hander again lived up to his status as the World No.1 Test batsman.
Barath hailed Chanderpaul’s contribution, as he anchored the Windies to 243 for nine in their first innings at the close.
“Shiv is very involved in our team meetings,” he said. “He’s someone who has scored over 10,000 Test runs, averaging close to 70 in England, and he has lent his expertise in team meetings. He has advised us about things like playing the ball later, picking the most effective areas to score, and having enough patience.”
Way to go west Indies keep d confidence an patience shiv chanderpaul keep hitting six an fours
If i was SHANE i would try to get into the IPL, sports these days is all about money so why not go to INDIA? WI have disrespected SHANE, that’s an insult,non of WI fast bowlers not getting the ball to swing, everything about WI cricket is wrong, am sorry but our captain is not doing enough with the BAT and maybe we should have both Ramdin and Baugh to keep together because one is six and the other is half a dozen…..WI will lose the series again……
Conditions always challenging for these guys. Look England showing them how much of a good batting wicket this is. They left out Shane who just took a ten wicket haul and brought a debutant pace bowler who does not get the ball to go either way. He is not ready for test cricket. I am for small island people and Sammy is one of my favorites but Gibson needs to go and so does many on this present board.
I dont know why shane was left out of that test,I think the selectors don’t want to promote Dominican crickets.Thats my oppinion. just listening
DNO, I found it strange that you chose to highlight what Adrian Barath said instead of the non inclusion of Shane Shillingford, who took 10 wickets in the last match he played and was dropped against England. This to me is unbelieveable! Yes, they said it’s a pacer friendly wicket but do we have quality fast bowlers to drop a wicket taking spinner? I bet you had it been Narine or Bishoo who had taken 10 wickets in his last match, they would not have dropped him for the next macth-their pick would have been safe and sure. To me, Shane was treated the same way that Irvine Shillingford was treated in 1977 where he scored 120 in just his second test but was dropped in the forth test and was replaced by Morris Foster. The sad thing about it is, it was not until 1978 after all of our key players went to play for Kerry Parker, Irvin was called to play his 3rd and 4th tests, and never played test cricket again. Bye the way, Foster went on to play 17 tests with only one test 100, at an average of 30.2 while Irvine only played 4, with one test century and at an average of 31.23. Shane we praying for you!
Alas