In their 0-3 defeat in the Tests in England, West Indies managed to survive just over two days at Lord’s, four at Trent Bridge, and about two and half at Edgbaston. Having memorably beaten Australia in Brisbane in January, they were optimistic about taking the momentum forward, but it wasn’t to be. In this interview, a day after the series defeat, West Indies head coach Andre Coley talks about why his players were mentally “fatigued” and what he has learnt from the tour.
We are sitting here on a Monday, which would have been the fourth day of the Edgbaston Test. Do you feel hurt by the loss?
It always does [hurt] when something doesn’t necessarily go as planned. Also, what it means to us as a team, to West Indies fans, the diaspora. That’s something you can never forget – what cricket means to West Indian people. You also feel a bit of disappointment because you know that the team has underperformed, but then you try to strike a balance of focusing on what we could take from it to make us better going forward.Would you say 3-0 is a true reflection of your team?
No (chuckles). We were beaten at Lord’s because we never actually got into that match. They were both low-scoring innings, so we never actually got in. With the ball, we did most of what we wanted to do. From the second Test, you could see how the batters started to acclimatise and mixed intent with some really good decision-making. We started to see each player expressing themselves and announce what they are capable of doing.
When you sum up the entire series, emotionally or mentally, it was a bit draining. That’s because of how England play and how attacking they would be. [But] there were instances where we controlled the flow of runs, where we put their batting under pressure, and where we put their bowling under pressure. There were occasions where you watched the body language of England fielders and you could say they were feeling the pressure. But [for us] to be able to sustain that mental focus for three to four days and operate at maximum capacity was quite interesting and taxing.
