Get it together!

Assistant coach Roddy Estwick has warned West Indies to get their act together and find the tenacity and motivation required to win the second Test against New Zealand which bowls off at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Friday (6 pm, Thursday, Eastern Caribbean time).

In a frank assessment of the team’s performance in last week’s heavy loss in the opening Test, Barbadian Estwick on Wednesday reminded his side that Test cricket was a tough game which offered “no hiding place”, and unless they were prepared to be mentally tough and scrap hard, they would find themselves on the losing side once again.

West Indies lost the opening Test at Seddon Park in Hamilton by an innings and 134 runs inside four days after two shocking batting performances.

“You’ve got to be prepared to work hard. The bowlers have got to be prepared to bowl long spells – a lot of overs – the batsmen have got to be prepared to bat for a very, very long time,” Estwick contended.

This is Test cricket, this (New Zealand) is one of the better teams in the world and you’ve got to be prepared to do those things.

“If you’re not prepared to do these things, then you go and play T20 cricket but you’ve got to be able to be prepared to scrap and fight and battle and really represent.

“Put a price on your wicket, put a price on every ball you bowl, put a price on every ball you field and put a price on every ball you catch. There is no other way; there is no hiding place in Test cricket and especially in New Zealand – you can’t relax for one minute.”

West Indies batted strongly in the opening tour games with experienced opener Kraigg Brathwaite scoring a first class double hundred and leading left-hander Darren Bravo scoring a century and a half-century.

However, the Windies batting failed to spark at Seddon Park and were bundled out for a meagre 138 in the first innings, to follow on by 381 runs after New Zealand had piled up a massive 519 for seven declared in their first innings.

No batsman passed 30 for West Indies with the best being opener John Campbell’s 26 and captain Jason Holder with 25.

The touring side fared little better in the second innings stumbling to 30 for four at tea on the third day and then 89 for six in the final session, and were it not for a stellar 155-run seventh wicket stand between Jermaine Blackwood (104) and tail-ender Alzarri Joseph (86), the game would have been over sooner.

Estwick said the defeat had led to candid conversations in the camp, with players clear on the fact that performances were needed to turn the series around.

“You have to have honest and open discussions. This is Test cricket, this is a test of everything – your physical, your mental, everything,” explained Estwick, a former Barbados first class seamer.

“So we’ve had discussions but like Jason (Holder) said earlier in an interview, the talking has to stop. We have to go out now and stay in the contest, stay in the fight because you know New Zealand is going to be full of fight. We’ve got to be ready.

“The game in Hamilton is gone. We’ve got to look forward to this one in Wellington and we’re representing eight million people back in the West Indies and they want to see us fight and we’ve got to be prepared to fight.

He continued: “We just can’t roll over and say ‘well New Zealand is a good side so we’re not going to fight and we’re going to lay down and let them run all over us’.

“We’ve just got to stay in the fight, stay in the contest and once we can in the contest you’ve got a chance.”

(BT)