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| November 21, 2006 | Tuesday | Shawwal 28, 1427 |
Woolmer backs Pakistan to stage a comeback in Test
MULTAN, Nov 20: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has backed his side to stage a comeback in the second Test on Tuesday despite West Indies’ overwhelming dominance on the second day at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Talking to reporters during the post-day’s play media conference on Monday, Woolmer hoped that Pakistan were still in a position to restore parity.
“There is no doubt it was a hard day’s work for the lads. However, I’m sure we are capable of getting back into the game. We tried hard, didn’t we? But the conditions got extremely tough when West Indies started their innings,” he said.
“For some odd reason, the ball stopped swinging just after four overs. That was very disappointing from our point of view because on a pitch like this one has to get the ball moving in the air.”
However, Woolmer lauded both Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga for their magnificent partnership of 151. “Yeah, one can’t help but praise the way Gayle and Ganga played. They applied themselves and got the due results. But as I have stated before, the conditions were conducive for batting after lunch.
West Indian bowling star Jerome Taylor was delighted with his efforts which enabled pick up five for 91 – his second such haul to go with five for 50 he claimed against India at Kingston earlier this year.
Taylor described taking (Pakistan captain) Inzamam-ul-Haq’s wicket as very special.
“Definitely, dismissing Inzamam gave me great satisfaction because he is a world-class player. I am pretty pleased with the way we bowled to restrict Pakistan’s total,” the 22-year-old speedster said.
Taylor attributed his success to keeping to the basics. “The fact that I got five wickets was due to bowling in the right areas. It was not easy to bowl on a pitch that is on the slow side.”
Taylor revealed that fellow Jamaican Courtney Walsh, the great fast bowler and former West Indies skipper who retired in 2001 with the then world haul of 519 wickets, is his role model.
“I have been inspired by Walsh. During my younger days I used to watch Courtney bowl back home in Jamaica and he became my role model. I would dearly like to emulate and perform as well as he did for the West Indies,” he pledged.
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