Within reach

West Indies find themselves on the verge of a rare series win as they prepare to face England in the fourth Twenty20 International at Kensington Oval on Saturday, but off-field distractions have threatened to overshadow the moment, with rumours of disharmony in the squad dominating headlines instead.

The Kieron Pollard-led side lead the five-match series 2-1 after winning last Saturday’s opener by nine wickets, losing the second T20I by one run 24 hours later, but then rebounding to capture Wednesday’s game three by 20 runs.

However, within touching distance of only their fourth T20I series success in 12 tours, West Indies have had the spotlight trained instead on social media reports of rifts inside the squad which have already forced rebuttals from head coach Phil Simmons and Cricket West Indies president, Ricky Skerritt.

Voice notes making the rounds Thursday suggested a breakdown in the relationship between Pollard and rookie fast bowling all-rounder Odean Smith, who was curiously given only one over in the first game, none in the second game and then strangely dropped for the third. Pollard bowled in those games.

Simmons on Thursday give full-throated denial of any such division, saying “there is no victimization in selection in West Indies cricket, there is no victimization in this team in playing anyone, so we need to start stepping away from that …”

And in a strongly-worded statement hours later, Skerritt slammed the rumours as a “malicious attack”.

“I view this as a malicious attack on the credibility of the West Indies captain, designed to sow division within our team that has just recorded three very impressive T20I performances against very strong opponents, including two outstanding wins and one heroic comeback to get within one run of victory,” Skerritt said in a strongly-worded statement.

“This clear attempt by well-known mischief makers to discredit the captain and to derail the team’s momentum in the ongoing Betway T20I Series should not be tolerated or encouraged.”

Smith, the only genuinely quick bowler in the line-up and capable of clocking over 90 mph, was one of the leading bowlers in last year’s Caribbean Premier League with 18 wickets for Guyana Amazon Warriors but was then controversially snubbed for the T20 World Cup squad on the grounds of fitness.

Today, assistant coach Monty Desai focussed on the Caribbean side’s on-field successes in the series, pointing to the fact West Indies had challenged strongly in all three matches to date.

“We can reflect only on the performance for this series and the fact remains if you look at all three games, we have been in the battle throughout,” he noted.

“The second game obviously we didn’t get the kind of result we wanted in the first half of the 20 overs by chasing the score, but you could see that the number of players now who bring their order of skills kept us in the battle nicely and we just lost the game by one run.”

He continued: “In fact now, if you look at it even more from the last game, what was heartening to see was what was their thinking, what was their planning and what they were putting in as part of their preparation in the training sessions – you could see a lot of things coming out in the game.

“For example, when we talk about allowing them to express their game properly, you could see they were playing some good strong shots in the areas where we wanted them to play and where they wanted to play themselves.”

West Indies dominated the first game with the ball when they bundled the world number ones out for 103 and despite slumping to 65 for seven in pursuit of 171 in the second T20I, roared back to come within two runs of victory.

Number ten Akeal Hosein and Romario Shepherd, in at number seven, struck 44 apiece in a record unbroken 72-run, ninth wicket stand.

Rovman Powell’s exhilarating 107 off 43 deliveries then inspired the home side to 224 in the third game, laying the foundation for the series lead.

Desai, the batting coach, said he had seen continual development in that area throughout the series.

“The fact is we’re evolving as a batting group, we’re willing to open up a few more areas in the wagon wheel. You could see some of those sweeps … that’s the flavour of this T20 [format],” he explained.

“The best part was the partnerships which we were able to stitch together in the top order especially in the last game.

“Also, the way we responded to the low score in the first game. It’s good to see that and we just want that to happen even more and that can only come with consistency in our thinking, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

England will be again without their captain Eoin Morgan who will miss the final two matches with a low-grade quadriceps injury which forced him out of the third T20I. (CMC)

SQUADS:

WEST INDIES – Kieron Pollard (captain), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Fabian Allen, Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Jason Holder, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Rovman Powell, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Hayden Walsh Jr.

ENGLAND – Moeen Ali (captain),
Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Liam Dawson, George Garton, Chris Jordan,
Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Tymal Mills, David Payne, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, James Vince,
Harry Brook, Eoin Morgan.