Before the start of the series, the Windies coach Stuart Law had warned England of not to write off the visitors, and although, he was proved wrong after the first Test, Jason Holder & Co. justified their coach’s statement with a thumping win in the second Test.
Nobody had given the Windies even an outside chance of winning a Test in the country where the team had not registered a single Test victory since 2001, and the detractors were smiling after tourists lost the first game at Edgbaston by an innings and 209 runs.
A spate of criticism arrived for Windies after the miserable performance with their bowling great Ambrose leading the charge. Windies’ ex-bowling coach Ambrose said the display in the first Test was pathetic. On the other hand, England’s legend Geoffrey Boycott labelled the Windies as the worst team in last 50 years.
Law had expressed his disappointment over the widespread criticism, especially, the one that came from Ambrose who was the team coach not very long ago. However, then again, the head coach admitted it was the criticism as well as the underdog tag that provided the team with much fire as Windies bounced back in exceptional style, chasing down an improbable 322 with quite ease on a fifth-day pitch at Headingley to level the three-match series and prove the detractors wrong.
“We weren’t given a chance to beat England since we landed here,” Law said. “We’ve heard it from every part of the media, the written press, Sky Sports, all the ex-cricketers – we weren’t given a chance, mate, so that actually provided us with a lot of fire, a lot of fuel to produce what we’ve done over the last five days.
“I know there’s a lot of people eating humble pie, they’re saying nice things about us, but deep down, they don’t believe in us – which is great for us. We’re going to Lord’s, we’ll still be the underdog… I know Aussies love an underdog, I love being an underdog as well, because you can sneak up and bite your opponent on the backside,” he added. “We’re going to celebrate this one long and hard, and so we should. But come tomorrow, we start planning and getting ourselves ready for that showdown at Lord’s.”
Law further heaped praise on the players who managed to come up with the sensational performance after copping up severe criticism from not only the opposition fans but also home fans.
“Credit to the boys, to put up with the amount of criticism that they copped, not just from opposition fans but also their home fans, to come out and turn it around and produce a performance over the last five days was an outstanding effort,” he said.
“If you get told you’re rubbish nine times out of ten, you’re going to start believing it pretty soon. These guys have copped it every time they’ve taken on the national duties, so for me, it was just a job of instilling that belief and getting people to understand they’re good enough to play at this level. They’ve got the skills, they’ve got the determination, they’ve got the work ethic. Something’s just got to click out in the middle, you’ve got to believe and trust your own game – that was the conversation we had with the batsmen, particularly,” he added.
The Windies now have a chance to win their first Test series in England for the first time since 1988, but Law did not sound too excited about that prospect and made it clear that improvement is of utmost priority to him.
“Improvement for me isn’t necessarily winning the series,” he said. “It means we go out and give a really good account of ourselves at Lord’s again. And if we don’t capitulate and lose in three days, like we did at Edgbaston, I think we’ve improved out of sight and that’s a great step forward for this group.
“So far, the signs are looking good. We’re trying to break the culture and create a different culture, which sometimes can take two years. These guys are embracing it, the hard work is now starting to pay off for them… I don’t want to put them under that much pressure. I want them a) to play with a smile on their face, and b) just go out and express themselves. I’m here give them a bit of guidance, a bit of support, a bit of love, and hopefully, they go out and achieve what they want to achieve,” he concluded.