Simmons vexed by Windies batting

Windies head coach Phil Simmons says his batsmen need to start converting their starts if they are to retain the Wisden Trophy against England.

The Windies succumbed to England by 113 runs yesterday to level the series at one apiece.

Simmons minced no words when it came to his team's batting performance, and hinted at possible changes to the top order, with Jamaican opener John Campbell and Shai Hope under scrutiny.

Campbell has had scores of 28, eight not out, 12, and four in four innings, while Hope has racked up just 56 runs in four innings so far in the series.

The Windies batsmen have reached scores of over 50 on five occasions in the match; however, none has gone on to get three figures, and this is a concern for coach Simmons.

"I think we have to do something different," he said. "We just lost a Test match and we have to add things we have done in the first Test and subtract some of the things that we have done in this match.

"I think our batsmen must carry on and make hundreds. [Ben] Stokes made 176 and [Dom] Sibley also got a hundred for England. Our batsmen need to make hundreds, because our bowlers are doing a good job, and now the batsmen have to stand up and do what they have to do for West Indies cricket."

The Windies will also be monitoring the fitness of fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who laboured through the second Test. Simmons told reporters that fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has recovered from a possible injury and should be available for selection for the third Test.

Simmons hinted that the coaching staff may have to go to the reserve pool to pull on a couple of players, if necessary; however, that decision will be made in the next couple of days.

Captain Jason Holder could not hold back his disappointment about losing the second Test and lamented that his team was outplayed by England.

"We're disappointed with the result," he said. "We have let ourselves down. England played a good game of cricket, so they deserve all the credit.

"We could have stretched the game yesterday, but that's when we let ourselves down and lost wickets in clusters.

"England bowlers challenged our batters a lot, stuck to their tasks, and held their lengths.

"We are here to fight. I know the guys are feeling this loss, and we'll give it everything in this last game."

The third and final Test takes place, again, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, and bowls off at 5 a.m. Jamaica time on Friday.

SCOREBOARD

ENGLAND 1st innings 469 for nine decl.

WINDIES 1st Innings 287

ENGLAND 2nd innings

(overnight 37 for two)

B Stokes not out 78

+J Buttler b Roach 0

Z Crawley b Roach 11

*J Root run out 22

O Pope not out 12

Extras (b1, lb1, w3, nb1) 6

TOTAL (3 wkts decl., 19 overs) 129

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Buttler), 2-17 (Crawley), 3-90 (Root)

Bowling: Roach 6-0-37-2, Gabriel 7-0-43-0, Holder 4-0-33-0, Joseph 2-0-14-0.

WINDIES 2nd Innings (target: 312)

K Brathwaite lbw b Woakes 12

J Campbell c wkp Buttler b Broad 4

S Hope b Broad 7

S Brooks lbw b Curran 62

R Chase lbw b Broad 6

J Blackwood c wkp Buttler b Stokes 55

+S Dowrich lbw b Woakes 0

*J Holder b Bess 35

K Roach c Pope b Bess 5

A Joseph c Bess b Stokes 9

S Gabriel not out 0

Extras (lb3) 3

TOTAL (all out, 70.1 overs)198

Fall of wickets: 1-7 (Campbell), 2-19 (Brathwaite), 3-23 (Hope), 4-37 (Chase), 5-137 (Blackwood), 6-138 (Dowrich), 7-161 (Brooks), 8-183 (Holder), 9-192 (Joseph), 10-198 (Roach)

Bowling: Broad 5-5-42-, Woakes 16-3-34-2, Curran 8-3-30-1, Bess 15.-3-59-2, Stokes 14.4-4-30-2, Root 1.2-1-0-0.

Result: England won by 113 runs.

Series: Three-match series tied 1-1.

Man of the Match: Ben Stokes.

Toss: Windies.

Umpires: Michael Gough, Richard Illingworth; TV - Richard Kettleborough.