West Indies head coach Phil Simmons

IANS
Brisbane

West Indies head coach Phil Simmons expressed confidence yesterday that his fledgling side can perform well in Australia in an upcoming series involving three Tests.
The first Test begins at Bellerive Oval, Hobart, on December 10. The Caribbean side take on a Cricket Australia XI in a four-day game in Brisbane starting on Wednesday.
Simmons is hopeful that his young charges will be able to quickly adapt to the conditions in Australia.
“Today was the first practice and the guys looked as good as you can look after a long flight,” Simmons was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au yesterday.
“We still have three days practice before the warm-up game and then three more days before the Test match, so I think it is about getting ourselves sharp enough going into the warm-up game and taking the warm-up game as serious as possible and making sure that during the warm-up game we do the things we want to do during the Test match.”
Simmons said every member of his squad will need to step up at different times to perform well as a team in the series but the quartet of Marlon Samuels, Kemar Roach, Jerome Taylor and Denesh Ramdin’s form will be crucial to the West Indies’ fortunes.
“They are the ones we are banking on to give the knowledge to the younger players that haven’t been here, but I think everyone has to take ownership over the next week so they know what to do when we get into the Test matches,” he said.
“I think the big thing is that we get accustomed to the wickets and get accustomed to the fact that the wickets are going to be good to bat on.
“The new ball is going to be a big thing and as long as we get accustomed to the wickets and batting on the wickets when it comes time to play the long innings we will be able to do it.”