Ganga delighted with WI efforts

West Indies captain Daren Ganga was quite happy with his teams efforts yesterday, after taking seven wickets and restricting England to 296.

It was a sharp turnaround after England’s thrashing of the touring side at Headingley with the West Indies bowling tightly all day and being rewarded for their efforts.

“I think it was a good day for us. We showed our competitiveness throughout the entire day. The first hour wasn’t too pleasant in terms of run scoring but we were able to hold things together and commit to what we set out to do and it was a whole team effort,” Ganga said after the first day’s play.

The new captain, replacing the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan, praised his bowlers and in particular Corey Collymore and Fidel Edwards.

“The attack lacked a bit of penetration and more variety was something that you were going to see in this Test match. Fidel (Edwards) is that type of bowler, if he can come and knock the tail over it will be a good innings work for him.

“Collymore is our most senior bowler and those are the things expected from Corey. He did exactly what was required. All the guys supported him with Taylor picking up two wickets. These are the sorts of things we need to inculcate more in our team with everyone contributing and being switched on and putting a performance forward for the common good of the team.”

Spirits were still high in the England camp even though the Test didn’t start as they would have liked, however they will be keen on turning that around today, according to opening batsman Alastair Cook.

“The wicket’s got more in it for the bowlers than we’ve had all season and it’s nipped around a bit all day,” Cook said after an impressive 60.

“If we get 350 we’re right in the game. It’s even but if we get a few more we’ll give ourselves a good chance. The West Indies came back in the second session and bowled well. With Fidel Edwards running in and bowling at 90mph it makes it tough.

“We’ve still got Belly (Ian Bell), he’s played nicely and got us out of a hole with Matt Prior. The groundsman thinks it will turn and if the sun comes on it the cracks will open. There’s a little bit of uneven bounce and if we can get the ball in the right areas as well it should be a good contest.”