Bonner putting in the work on English tour

The West Indies senior cricket team will get their first taste of cricket action in over two and half months when the 25-man squad engage themselves in a three-day practice match which bowls off tomorrow at the Emirates at Old Trafford.

One player who will be looking to impress head coach Phil Simmons is Jamaican batsman Nkrumah Bonner, who is seeking to force his way into the final eleven for the first Test against England on July 8.

Bonner was in a rich vein of form before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to sports in March. The right-hander, who scored 523 runs in 13 innings with two centuries and two half-centuries in the West Indies Championship, is looking to reclaim that form on his third tour of duty with the West Indies senior team in England.

"My primary job is to score runs and that is my main focus. I am not going to limit myself on how many runs I want to score on tour but the aim is to score as many runs as possible and put the team in a winning position at all time," said Bonner.

Already the two-week training camp has helped the 31-year-old, who says the environment is conducive to learning and improving.

"I have been working on my balance a lot. I find that once I'm balanced and stable at the crease, I can make good decisions. So, to be more consistent with that, I have been putting in the work and it has been coming along really well, with the assistance of the coaches," he said.

BONDING TIME

The St Catherine native says he has been balancing the isolated tour life with increased bonding with his teammates.

"In my downtime, I just try to hang out with the guys. Whether it's dominoes, table tennis or some basketball, we try to have a little extracurricular fun each day. We talk a bit of cricket as well. It's nice to be able to pick some of the senior guys' brains when they are in that relaxed environment. I have a good relationship with all of the guys within the camp. We are basically one family and we spend a lot of time enjoying each other's company," he said.