MULTAN, Pakistan – Outgoing West Indies Test head coach Andre Coley has called for the players to build on their historic Test win in Pakistan and to be hungry for more success.
West Indies defeated Pakistan by 120 runs in the second Test at the Multan Cricket Stadium to register their first Test victory on the Asian country since 1990.
Coley was also in charge of the team when they shocked the world by beating Australia at the Gabba last year to win their first Test match there in 27 years.
The two-match Pakistan tour was Coley’s last series in charge of the regional side, with ODI and T20 head coach Daren Sammy set to take over the reins at the beginning of April.
However, Coley said while those two historic wins were memorable, he wants to see the West Indies win on a more regular basis.
“Every match we play we set out to win.
“When I reflect on those two wins away from home, there was a willingness to learn and adapt quite quickly and you want to ensure that you’re not necessarily starting series away from home where you’re looking to catch up all the time,” Coley said during an interview on Tuesday.
“I think over the last 12-18 months we have played at home, we’ve played away, so the players that we’ve had in the squad would have had some amount of exposure with foreign conditions.
“So, it’s very important that the players now take that, log it for future and look to build on them, because you could potentially find foreign conditions at home, depending on how you want to set up conditions to be effective at home.
“…We may get a performance here and there, but we really need to keep that hunger and keep learning,” he maintained.
After losing the first Test by 127 runs, Coley said it took a massive effort from the players to turn around their fortunes in the second Test in tough conditions.
He said the win showed that the side had made major improvements over the last year.
“A good win, and it also shows improvement as the series progressed. Really putting most things together in all of the areas in the second Test was good to see,” Coley said.
“We anticipated spin even before coming here, but the surfaces we encountered actually spun from day one. The pitches in some instances appeared to be what we would be used to in maybe a day three pitch, so it was really a test of our skills, test of our mental strength and our mindset…
“What was also good is it’s learning for the players in a sense, where on a tour they’re going to be instances where you need to make certain adjustments, some might be technical, some might be tactical…” he added.
CMC
