West Indies captain Ramnaresh Sarwan admits the side's lack of preparation is a concern as they head into Thursday's first test against England here at Lord's. The tourists go into the opening match of a four-Test series with just 48 overs worth of match-practice since arriving from the Caribbean with two days of their drawn three-day warm-up game against Somerset, their only fixture before coming to Lord's, washed out.
"I've been playing international cricket for eight years, and it is the first time I've experienced something like this," Sarwan told reporters at Lord's here Wednesday. "We knew what could happen with just one game for preparation, and it did with the rain at Taunton," the 26-year-old batsman added.
"But we are determined to stay mentally strong. That is the most important thing going into this Test match." West Indies have been a side in decline for over a decade, having dominated world cricket for much of the 1970s and 1980s.
And they haven't won a Test in their last two series against England, losing 3-0 in the Caribbean in 2004 before being beaten 4-0 on tour later that year. Their batting has been weakened by former captain Brian Lara's retirement. and they have arrived in England at a time when conditions generally favour pace bowling with the hosts strike quick Stephen Harmison, the man behind their downfall three years ago, having found his form again while playing for Durham.
"Obviously, we will miss Brian, but it presents a great opportunity for everyone to put their hands up," said Sarwan. Turning to the likely conditions at Lord's, he added: "I'd expect the ball to do a bit, after the weather we've had for the past week-and-a-half - even when it's late in the summer, the ball tends to do something here.
"I'd expect the seam bowlers to get some sort of movement throughout the series." Both West Indies and England had a lacklustre World Cup in the Caribbean, neither side ever looking like reaching the semi-finals. West Indies' recent Test form has been poor as well while England's last series in the five-day game saw them suffer a 5-0 Ashes whitewash in Australia.
"We've both had bad World Cups and obviously haven't been playing Test cricket that well," Sarwan said. "England didn't do very well in Australia, so I think both teams will be a bit low on confidence. "We always go into a series as underdogs because of how we've been playing over the past couple of years. "We're not a great team; we don't have any great superstars. It's just a matter of us playing basic cricket and getting things right."
And Sarwan said his largely youthful side could learn from the example of World Cup semi-finalists New Zealand, known for punching above their cricket weight and an ability to carry out a well thought-out plan. "If you look at New Zealand they are a team who do that very well. That's what we're trying to achieve."
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