West Indies wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva believes his team has learned valuable lessons from their heavy defeat in the first Test and is optimistic about their chances in the upcoming second Richards-Botham Trophy Test Series against England, starting on Thursday at Trent Bridge.
The Caribbean side suffered an innings-and-114-run defeat in just three days at Lord’s, struggling against England’s pacers and being bowled out for 121 and 136 in their two innings. Despite the disappointment, Da Silva is confident that the team’s discussions and preparations will lead to a stronger performance in the second Test.
“All of us are pretty disappointed after the first Test, so we’ve put that behind us, we’ve had our discussions, and we are looking forward to the second Test,” Da Silva told reporters during a news conference Tuesday. “We are putting in the work. We are doing everything we can, rebuilding and going hard forward into the next Test.”
A couple of soft dismissals
Da Silva emphasized that the team is not dwelling on the past but is focused on finding ways to be more successful in the second Test. “It’s disappointing, but it’s Test cricket,” he said. “At the end of the day, it happens. It has happened to the best teams in the world—England, Australia, and India—so it’s just about how we are going to bounce back that is going to be most important.”
He acknowledged that the batting line-up did not perform to expectations, with several players getting out cheaply. “Obviously, the batting did not stick their hands up, and a few of us can stick our hands up and say we got a couple of soft dismissals. Moving into this next Test, I think that will be the key—along with getting 20 wickets, we need to put enough runs on the board for the bowlers to bowl at.”
Da Silva also highlighted some positives from the first Test, noting that several players got starts but failed to convert them into substantial scores. “It might not look like it, but we’ve taken a few positives [from the first Test]. A lot of guys got starts, and they just didn’t carry on. We talked about soaking up more pressure and how we are going to deal with those situations if we are put in them again. Not losing wickets in clusters.”
Trusting the process and individual game plans
He stressed the importance of trusting the process and individual game plans. “It’s about reminding ourselves of the process and trusting that process because all of us have a different way of going about it. It’s just about trusting our own game and making sure we get the job done.”
Echoing the sentiments of captain Kraigg Brathwaite and head coach Andre Coley, Da Silva urged the team to draw on their experience from the Tour of Australia in January, where they rebounded from a 1-0 deficit to win the second Test in Brisbane by eight runs.
“It’s something we can look at,” he said. “We came back, and we won the [second] Test and if we can replicate that, all of us will be really happy. It’s not going to be easy. Again, we need to do the right things, bat for long periods of time, and take wickets.”
The West Indies will be looking to level the series with a strong performance in the second Test at Trent Bridge.
