West Indies head coach Phil Simmons is hopeful the England series against the regional side comes off but insists it will have to be done under the safest circumstances possible.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are currently locked in talks trying to work out the logistics for the three-test series which will take place in a bio-secure environment.
Speaking with Errol Andre Baptiste on 195.5fm Sports programme on a range of topics on Saturday, Simmons said, “I’m hopeful that it will happen but knowing that the only way it can happen is if it is properly safe for all the participants on both teams; players, coaches and umpires.”
His comments came on the same day CWI Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Johnny Grave told ESPN Cricinfo that the board expects to receive an invitation from England for the tour at the end of this month. They are hoping to gather a squad of 25 players in Antigua before a chartered flight takes the team to England on June 8. The first Test is proposed to bowl off a month later in Southampton.
T20 World Cup
Looking further down the road to the T20 World Cup, the 57-year-old Simmons said his greatest concern is the lack of preparation time for his team. Reports are suggesting the tournament, scheduled to take place in Australia between October 18 to November 15, could be postponed to 2022. Simmons, who returned as head coach last October said, “I think the only disadvantage for the West Indies team is how much work the guys can do before they go there if it is happening.” The Windies head coach said if the tournament comes off, he will be banking on the experience of his players to settle in quickly down under and into the tournament. “I think once we get there, T20 is the one format where the squad that we have would be able to get themselves in a position where we can play to our standards in a shorter space of time than the Test players would do. I think our squad for the T20 is more seasoned.”
CPL
Simmons noted if the Caribbean Premier League comes off, it would be a big help in preparing the Caribbean players for the world tournament. “It’s an important part of the selection for the West Indies squad and if a safe environment for it can be found and it can be played, it will be a massive help for the players who will then be selected for the squad to go to the World Cup if it is on,” the former West Indies Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer said. The 2020 edition of the CPL is scheduled to take place between August 19 and September 26. Officials have said they may have to consider limiting the number of venues to possibly three while it could also be a domesticated tournament. There are still many questions as to whether the tournament will take place at its scheduled time.
Fitness problems
Since returning as coach of the West Indies senior men’s team in October last year, Simmons says it’s been an uphill task getting his players to understand the importance of fitness in the game. It reached a head in February when Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer were dropped from the West Indies squad set to travel to Sri Lanka for three ODI matches and two T20Is. Both players failed fitness tests before the series. However, Simmons said that moment made players around the region understand how seriously fitness would be taken in the West Indies team. “The fitness aspect of it is a huge part of our success. It was back in the day and it has to be now,” Simmons said. He went on, “The more we can get players at all levels, not just the national team because when you come to the national team, we shouldn’t be thinking about that, we should be just thinking about how we win games.”
3-Day matches
Simmons also had advice for cricket officials across the region in how they go about developing grassroots tournaments. With the shortest format of the game attracting more young players, the Windies coach said domestic leagues must go back to three-day matches. He said, “We have to push the three-day games a little bit more at the Under-19 and the Under-17 levels. We have to start back trying to play three-day games at that level. You need to get that back at a younger age where people are learning to bat time.”