Dowrich backs diverse pace attack to adjust to English conditions
Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich yesterday hailed the quality of West Indies’ pace attack and believes it can be the decisive factor in next month’s three-Test series against England.
The Caribbean side have travelled with five seamers in their main 14-man Test squad but have access to a further six – including the experienced Shannon Gabriel – in 11 reserves which are also on tour.
Dowrich said the Windies attack was now more experienced than ever and capable of making the adjustments that were so critical when bowling in English conditions.
“Obviously, home advantage will come into play [for England’s bowlers] but if you look at our pace attack, most of the guys have played here already so I think they have an understanding of the conditions,” Dowrich told reporters via Zoom from quarantine at Old Trafford.
“We’ve got Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, and those guys are in the top 20 in the world. They understand their games and they know how to adjust well to different conditions so I think that will work well for us going into the series.”
He added: “I’m not one to compare eras but if you look around at the statistics it will show that these guys are quality and they can come up against any team in the world and perform.”
MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS
West Indies quicks have improved leaps and bounds in recent times, leading to a significant improvement in their respective ICC rankings.
Captain Jason Holder is the highest ranked at number three, to be also number one in the allrounders charts, while Roach lies 11th and Gabriel 19th.
Uncapped 22-year-old Chemar
Holder is on his first West Indies tour but impressed in the recent first-class championship with 36 wickets, bowling with pace and hostility.
Dowrich said the strength of the pace attack was the diversity it presented.
“If you look at the main four – Shannon, Kemar, Jason and Chemar – I think they all present different skills,” explained the 28-year-old Dowrich.
“Kemar is probably the most skilful out of all of them in terms of being able to hit a consistent line and length and move the ball both ways.
“Shannon and Alzarri have a little more pace and Jason is ‘Mr Consistent’ – he can put the ball on a ten-cent piece – so I think we bring a whole dynamic.”
– CMC