Windies need to improve: Bishop

Ian Bishop London: Former West Indies bowler Ian Bishop took pride in his former team’s recent test series win over England, and thinks the current crop is “filled with possibilities” enough to climb up the rankings and put a smile back on the face of Caribbean fans. Despite the unexpected 2- 1 win in the three- test series, West Indies remain eighth in the International Cricket Council ( ICC) rankings, bottom of the sport’s traditional powers. The series against England showed that West Indies has depth in fast bowling, but Bishop identified two glaring deficiencies that need to be rectified for the team to have further success. “They are looking for a spinner to be developed and want more consistency for the top- order batting,” the Trinidadian said in a telephone interview with Reuters ahead of the five- game oneday international series that starts on Wednesday. “From speaking with one or two of the people involved with the team, they are very aware of certain areas of the game that need to be rectified.” West Indies played the tests against England without a specialist spinner, though allrounder Roston Chase took eight wickets in the first test, which West Indies won by 381 runs. Shai Hope was out cheaply three times in five innings and his back- to- back centuries at Leeds in 2017 are a distant memory, although Bishop said he was a “phenomenal talent”. “During the ( recent) series, and even last year, batting on seamer- friendly pitches, he is getting beaten on the outside of the bat and inside of the bat,” said Bishop.