West Indies captain Darren Sammy hopes to make the most of coach Ottis Gibson's knowledge of England when the sides meet in a key World Cup clash on Thursday. Victory for the West Indies in the Group B match will see them into the quarter-finals while England must win to keep alive their hopes of reaching the last eight and then hope other results fall kindly for them.
Former West Indies fast bowler Gibson spent more than two years as England's bowling coach before taking charge of the West Indies in January 2010. "The plus we have is we have a coach who just a year ago was working with England, so he has inside details and will be quite helpful," Sammy said on Wednesday. "He has a lot of information and has worked in a successful English team.
"Obviously we've been analysing the opposition. We'll be looking to go out and exploit the weaknesses tomorrow." Sammy said now was a good time to be playing an England side who have suffered shock defeats by Ireland and Bangladesh at this World Cup. The bulk of Andrew Strauss's side have been on tour since October, winning the Ashes Test series but losing the subsequent one-day campaign against Australia 6-1.
"It's a good time to play England," all-rounder Sammy said. "Obviously, they've been on the road for a long time. Apparently, they've been home for four days in five months. "That's something that will be on their minds. In order for them to stay, they've got to win... or maybe some of them will want to go home to their families. You never know."
West Indies have been bolstered for this match by the return of dynamic opening batsman Chris Gayle, who missed their 44-run win against Ireland last time out with an abdominal strain. "It's great to have him back. Chris is a massive boost for us. He is obviously a key member of our team," Sammy said.
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