Buoyed by the stunning series-levelling victory in the second Test at Headingley, Windies coach Stuart Law has insisted that the visitors will enter the series-decider with full of confidence.
After the mauling they received in the series-opener at Edgbaston where England thrashed them by an innings and 209 runs inside three days including taking their 19 wickets inside a day, nobody had given Jason Holder & Co. even an outside chance of putting up a good challenge against the hosts, let alone winning a match. They faced widespread criticism with their bowling legend and former bowling coach Curtly Ambrose calling the performance as ’embarrassing’, much to the annoyance of head coach Stuart Law, who made it clear that the comments from Ambrose were surprising.
But Law’s comments alone was not going to shut the detractors up, and they needed to perform on the ground. Well, the Law could not have asked for a better reply from his team, as the visitors chased down 322 on the final day pitch to secure a memorable win and their first Test win in England since 2001.
Speaking ahead of the mouth-watering third Test, Law did not refrain from crediting his players and hoped that the win in the previous game would instil confidence in the inexperienced team.
“I thought guys like Chris Woakes, Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled the house down at Headingley,” said Law. “And we had answers to them. It’s not the fact that they under-estimated us: we actually stood up and competed against some high-quality batting and bowling, so credit where credit’s due.”
“There’s probably a couple that doubted their ability to cope at this level. But I hope those doubts are now well and truly put to bed, and they can start flourishing,” he added.
Law further heaped lavish praise on Headingley hero Shai Hope who hit centuries in both the innings to guide the team to one of their best victories in recent years.
“I remember sitting down next to him in the dressing room before the last day and said ‘Look, the plan is we’ll bat to Tea, see where we are and if we’ve got wickets we’ll work out if we’re going to have a go or not’,” Law recalled. “He looked at me, and I said ‘What’s wrong with that?’ He looked at me again, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders and I said ‘Okay, what’s your plan?’ ‘We’re going to win’, he said. That’s God’s honest truth. And he went out and won the game.”
Before the start of the series, Law had backed Hope to become one of the best players in the world, and he reiterated his feelings again.
“He’s a rock,” Law said of Hope. “He’s a guy with a lot of talent who looks very good at the crease. We hadn’t seen that in international cricket, but Headingley showcased his talent.
“The challenge for Shai is to stay fit and healthy. If he does that, with the drive, he’s got and the mental toughness and will to work, that will just make him better and better. He’s pretty good now, but he’s got the potential to be great,” he added.