They may have lost the series, but their players have learned to cope better under pressure and become more consistent, their coach says
Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi02-Aug-2024In their 0-3 defeat in the Tests in England, West Indies managed to survive just over two days at Lord’s, four at Trent Bridge, and about two and half at Edgbaston. Having memorably beaten Australia in Brisbane in January, they were optimistic about taking the momentum forward, but it wasn’t to be. In this interview, a day after the series defeat, West Indies head coach Andre Coley talks about why his players were mentally “fatigued” and what he has learnt from the tour.We are sitting here on a Monday, which would have been the fourth day of the Edgbaston Test. Do you feel hurt by the loss?
It always does [hurt] when something doesn’t necessarily go as planned. Also, what it means to us as a team, to West Indies fans, the diaspora. That’s something you can never forget – what cricket means to West Indian people. You also feel a bit of disappointment because you know that the team has underperformed, but then you try to strike a balance of focusing on what we could take from it to make us better going forward.Would you say 3-0 is a true reflection of your team?
No (chuckles). We were beaten at Lord’s because we never actually got into that match. They were both low-scoring innings, so we never actually got in. With the ball, we did most of what we wanted to do. From the second Test, you could see how the batters started to acclimatise and mixed intent with some really good decision-making. We started to see each player expressing themselves and announce what they are capable of doing.When you sum up the entire series, emotionally or mentally, it was a bit draining. That’s because of how England play and how attacking they would be. [But] there were instances where we controlled the flow of runs, where we put their batting under pressure, and where we put their bowling under pressure. There were occasions where you watched the body language of England fielders and you could say they were feeling the pressure. But [for us] to be able to sustain that mental focus for three to four days and operate at maximum capacity was quite interesting and taxing.Related
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It was a matter of mental fatigue, just being able to do some of the things we wanted to do for a longer time, especially when put under pressure, getting through those periods, then being put under pressure again, and then having to respond again. That’s the biggest learning we could take away.It was a good stretch of opportunity for our players. We have mainly players who – when you look at the number of first-class or Test matches they have played – are inexperienced compared to other teams. For them, even the number of spectators in the ground was quite interesting. I’ll always go back to [Mikyle] Louis, who was ready for the battle against [Mark] Wood [at Trent Bridge], and when you put in the crowd support and the noise, he said, “Boy, coach, I really had to knock in on that because that’s not something I hear a lot of in the Caribbean.”Did he feel overwhelmed?
Not overwhelmed. At some point he was aware of it, but he was able to get through that period. It was really a powerful learning experience for him. I’m sure he has taken that coping mechanism away from this series. He was able to come up with one or two different things to help him through. He is on a good path, mentally quite strong.The expectation – that’s one of the things I tried to keep away from the players. I didn’t want to build up too much anxiety in them, just let them be aware of the significance of the series. Because we always have to remember that playing for West Indies is more than just cricket – it goes to the core of who West Indian people are and their struggles, to then being confident enough to step out and announce that you are good enough to take on the best. Louis must have enjoyed hearing the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston chant his name?
There were decent crowds, both here and in Australia. What the players would have got from it is that whenever we did well, the crowd showed appreciation for good cricket, regardless of which team you were from. As the tour went on, some of our guys actually got a little bit of confidence from the crowd, became more comfortable with being on the boundary and so on. And that is all a part of the game as well, how you can manage off-field stuff. Sometimes that can be overwhelming on its own.”I’m happy with where we are now because we are now moving into the direction of being a fit side, having younger, fitter, stronger bowlers. I want to identify maybe two to three more guys, so we have a pack we can rotate through”•Randy Brookes/AFP/Getty ImagesSome of the players appeared overwhelmed at Lord’s, which was James Anderson’s farewell match. West Indies managed only 121 in the first innings and were 79 for 6 in the second innings on day two. Fast bowler Jayden Seales said it was “frustrating looking up at the scoreboard”.
I could tell you that we went into that Test with belief in ourselves and an understanding of what the conditions could have been like. The week leading up to the Lord’s Test was frenetic in terms of engagements. The level of expectation also was telling. Because I know these guys are on social media, and they also have their families here and back home, and everybody was really looking forward to a keen contest. So overall [it might have been overwhelming] coming to a new country and the weight of expectation. Maybe some players had expectations of themselves in terms of the goals they had set.We didn’t actually get into the Lord’s Test at all. The bowlers pretty much tried to hold their own and took wickets, as opposed to [England] batters giving theirs up. I can understand and I agree with Jayden. Not only him, even for myself and the rest of the coaching staff, watching the scoreboard was frustrating, knowing that if we had posted something close to par we would always give ourselves a chance.Can you tell us what some elements of your debrief will look at?
My focus over the coming days will continue to be: what are we pulling from this experience? Sometimes you get overwhelmed because there’s a bit of self-doubt about whether you can match up [at this level]. And we have proven in this series, in different matches, that we can do good things and we can actually compete. For me, it’s going back to those processes [and asking the player]: When we were doing well, what was the thinking? What were the processes we were going through that actually helped us to do those things? Because if you don’t deep-dive into those, then you always will be sporadic in terms of how you go about things.So it’s really about identifying the periods in the game where momentum shifted either away from us or towards us and then identifying what we did to actually create that, or what we didn’t do that allowed us to lose a bit of momentum. And then be more consistent with those things.At Trent Bridge, it surprised many pundits when Kraigg Brathwaite decided to field on what usually is a bat-first ground. In hindsight, would you have batted first?
No. In the last year and a half or so, we have actually opted to bat more often than in the previous period. The stats suggested that the pitch was generally slow on day one and as day two went on, it got better for batting. I don’t know if you recall, within the first half hour or 40 minutes, there were a couple of opportunities created, and we missed one key opportunity on the first morning – [dropping Ollie Pope at 46]. We missed about four catches behind the wicket, which would have made a difference.We got a lead of 41. Potentially that should have been more because of how we were batting. Having fielded the entire first day and batted against a good attack on day two and then coming back the next day, mentally it was draining and you could see it with some guys because they were so into it and wanted to do well.Kavem Hodge was West Indies’ top run-getter in the series, with 216 runs at an average of 36, including one hundred and one fifty•AFP/Getty ImagesThe big positive for West Indies at Trent Bridge was Kavem Hodge, Alick Athanaze and Joshua Da Silva’s batting. It showed that if you have intent and intensity, runs will come.
And decision-making for long periods of time. Sometimes you can get ahead of yourself and say, I have just come in to bat, I want to score a hundred, but 100 is so far away. But if you stay in the moment, ball by ball by ball, and you start to add ten, 15, 20… you are 15 from 30 balls. You are then wearing down the bowlers, they are in their third or fourth spells, and you start to grow in confidence.Intensity, ball by ball, with good decision-making over a period of time helps you to set up games. And it’s not only in batting, the same holds true for bowling as well.Hodge batted purposefully during his hundred at Trent Bridge and he also got a fifty at Edgbaston. Does he now have a bigger responsibility in the middle order?
I have asked Kavem to continue doing what he’s doing. I haven’t added any more responsibility. Everybody in the team has their responsibility. You can’t be asking people to take on the responsibility of others. He said he’s gone away from his processes once or twice on the tour and he has revisited them and is conscious of what is happening.Like on the first day of the tour where he went chasing to hack at a delivery wide outside off stump and was by Pope in front of point?
Or [Hodge could have] hit it with better control, because there’s an element of risk in everything you do. Maybe he could have hit it a bit later, maybe he could have hit a bit earlier as opposed to smashing it – a bit of greater control in where I’m actually putting the ball, as opposed to, hey, my eyes are lighting up, all this needs to get smashed.Both Hodge and Seales, who finished as the best batter and bowler for West Indies, spoke about how they were proactive in preparation. Hodge called former England captain Michael Vaughan to talk about batting in English conditions, while Seales said he chose to play county cricket to be ready for this series. Clearly these players want to grow and perform in Test cricket and set an example for the rest in the dressing room.
The pull of white-ball cricket will always be there. You go back to intent. Intent isn’t only on the field, it’s also off the field. If I want to do well and I intend to have a long career, then I also have to be intentional about how I set that up, where I go to prepare, how much of [any one format] do I play, etc. Those conversations are going on with each player in terms of where he is at now, what do we need, where are we going and how do we get there, what kind of support does the player need to actually keep moving forward.Coley would like to see Alzarri Joseph get some time off from playing day in and day out•Getty ImagesOne player who was expected to impose himself was fast bowler Alzarri Joseph, who is also the team’s vice-captain. Joseph has been committed to Test cricket despite being in demand in franchise leagues. Can you talk about what you have gathered from the chats you have had with him on his struggles? And how do you aim to ensure he stays fit for the long season ahead?
For somebody like Alzarri, it is important to help him manage his effectiveness and how much he plays. He plays all formats. You have two separate head coaches assisting him to plan out how we can go about things. Daren [Sammy, West Indies’ white-ball coach] and me continue to have dialogue about players who are playing across formats and we see what’s the best windows for them to have breaks. That is the direction in which we are heading. We are not there yet, but we have started that process in terms of the discussions and having more of a long-term outlook on things and players. You want players to play but you also want them to remain healthy.As far as Alzarri is concerned, it always helps to have a period of time away from the game to work on your individual skills, because you could get drawn into moving from one tournament to the next and might actually lose some of your skills. So it’s building in the right amount of rest time where he does nothing, but then also have little periods where he is not in competition. That way he will be able to create more control around his bowling.As a coach, what would you say are the lessons you personally have learnt from the Australia and England tours?
I am quite an independent thinker. I want to continue to be my authentic self, taking on feedback but at the same time remaining firm on decision-making that’s best for the side. In terms of what I’ve become better at – it is being more engaging, because in the past I’ve been very cut and dry and straightforward: this is what I want, this is what we are going to do. I have become better at exploring more ways of engaging players in terms of how we go about it, so we actually do it together while still keeping my finger on the pulse.You visited Manchester City football club ahead of the Edgbaston Test. What was that about?
I have always been someone who’s looking for an opportunity to be better and understanding what the best in the world do that I could take from. I have always had that kind of inquisitive mind. And since I started to get more involved in leadership roles, I have tended to explore options that are aligned with that. So my visit to Man City was a personal development opportunity for myself. I wanted to observe the inner workings of another high-performance environment.As you go through the gate, it just hits you, even before speaking to anybody: the high-performance facilities, the fields, the pristine conditions. Obviously, [there is the context of] having the money to do it, but just the facilities, the gyms, the different things that cater to players’ recovery. I wanted to explore what best practice looks like in a different sport but it also reaffirmed my views and thinking in terms of a holistic view of leading the team.It’s actually written in part in my coach development plan every year, to speak with someone that operates at a very high level – it doesn’t have to be in sport, but at a leadership level. And then also visit a facility or a place that is known for high performance.Coley on what he’s learned during his time as West Indies coach: “I’ve become better at exploring more ways of engaging players, because in the past I’ve been very cut and dry and straightforward”•AFP/Getty ImagesAt the post-match press briefing after losing the series, you made the point about West Indies being in a Catch-22 situation. You said to get more bilateral series, you need to produce results, but for that you need more matches. Can you expand on that?
We have to play a part on the field as well for people to say, oh yeah, they [West Indies] need to play more cricket because we need to see them more, not see them less. We obviously need to play more Test cricket. My view is that we have to find windows of how we can actually prepare better.But I’m happy with where we are now because we are now moving into the direction of being a fit side, having younger, fitter, stronger bowlers. That is where I want to push the needle, where we can identify maybe two to three more guys, so we have a pack we can rotate through.At the same time, keep the batting as stable as possible with the understanding that, yeah, you are going to lose, you are going to get one or two instances where you get a low score, but we are persevering with you because we need you to learn and learn fast. It doesn’t help if you play the batter for one match. He never learns and his confidence takes a nose-dive because he is thinking, ‘If I don’t score on this one, I’m going to be out the next.’So it is a balance between keeping the batting together for as long as we can and defining what a run [of matches] is. We only play 12 to 13 Test matches in a World Test Championship cycle. A run, for me, is half of that. I’m prepared to give a batter six Test matches.What is your expectation of such a batter in terms of performance?
They would know what they need to do in the role, what is expected of them in terms of performance. But at the same time, as you go through that, [you need to pick up] consistency and a willingness to learn, and that consistent intent, regardless of whether you have performed or not.How long is your term?
Till the end of June next year. I just had a two-year contract, which is not normal. Most coaches at this level probably have four years or something to be able to make an impact. I will always be judged by a different yardstick.Why?
Just because of the profile of the person who has generally sat in my position as head coach. It was either an ex-Test cricketer, international cricketer or somebody with a higher profile of having coached around the world. You are here for results. You are expected to provide results. It’s just interesting that the juncture we are at in this moment, there is also a development component that has to be taken into consideration and, at the same time, pushing the players in the direction where they can perform.You play against South Africa at home soon. What is your expectation?
We haven’t beaten South Africa in the West Indies for a little while [in four series since 1992]. We had a really good chance in South Africa in the first Test when we were there last [in Centurion in 2023] when they gave us 251 [247] to chase down and we missed it by 70 runs [88]. But we are confident at home – familiar conditions.