Nottingham, May 30: West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has urged Caribbean cricket fans to keep faith with his young side after their latest defeat, saying that criticism from own people is tough to take.
The West Indies lost the second Test against England, and with it the three-match series, after going down by nine wickets with more than a day left at Trent Bridge on Monday.
Before this match, former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding said Gibson needed “to understand that the West Indies cricket team is not a boot camp and how to man-manage”.
Holding, now a respected cricket broadcaster, also questioned the place in the team of captain Darren Sammy, saying: “West Indies cannot afford to carry anyone while they are struggling in Test matches.”
This defeat left West Indies with a record of just two wins in their last 33 Tests and was the end of a previously unbeaten run in first-class cricket at Trent Bridge going back to 1906 that spanned 22 matches, including eight Tests. Sport24 reports.
Gibson, a former Windies paceman and ex-England bowling coach, was braced for more criticism from Caribbean cricket greats.
“It''s part and parcel of West Indies cricket. Over the years, this group of players, because of the decline, if you like, of West Indies cricket has been criticised,” he said.
Gibson said they had to toughen up fast ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston starting on June 7.
© ANI
