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| October 11, 2006 | Wednesday | Ramazan 17, 1427 |
West Indies need to lift Test standards, says Lloyd
JAIPUR, Oct 10: The West Indies need to improve their Test cricket in a bid to recapture the past glory, former captain Clive Lloyd said here on Tuesday.
“We have done extremely well in one-dayers. We have got a good all-round side that adequately covers all the departments, but we have to improve in Test cricket in certain areas,” said Lloyd.
The West Indian great, captain of World Cup-winning teams in 1975 and 1979, was last week appointed a consultant to coach Bennett King and skipper Brian Lara for the ongoing Champions Trophy in India.
“We need to clarify two areas in Tests - fast bowling and opening. The current fast bowlers are learning but we probably need to work on opening combinations,” said Lloyd.
“We need quality fast bowlers who can bowl consistently for four-five days.
I think we have the making of a very good side in the future.”
The West Indies have won just one of their last 14 Tests, but are doing well in one-day cricket. They beat India at home in May and then reached the final of a recent triangular one-day series in Malaysia.
They started their Champions Trophy campaign in style, thrashing Zimbabwe by nine wickets. They will take on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the last two qualifying games.
The top two teams advance to the main draw that features world champions Australia, India, England, South Africa, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Lloyd said the one-day game had changed a lot since his days.
“The rules have changed a bit. Fielding has improved, with players sliding, and batsmen play a few more shots that we used to do,” said Lloyd, whose team ruled world cricket with exciting batsmen and quality pacemen.
Lloyd, 62, quit the game in 1985 after scoring 7,515 runs in 110 Tests and 1,977 runs in 87 One-day Internationals. He led the West Indies to a record 36 wins in 74 Tests between 1974 and 1985.—AFP
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