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West Indies coach John Dyson has said despite the long, grueling schedule for most players in the squad this year, they will need to keep up the intensity to ensure success against India in the four-match ODI series, the first of which begins at Sabina Park on Friday. “We will play aggressive cricket, we will play to win as always, and we will aim for consistency of performance,” Dyson said.

“There is a lot of cricket in any calendar year, but that’s what professional cricket’s about. They have a lot of cricket to play. They earn good money from playing cricket and it’s part of the job.”

West Indies have been busy throughout 2009. With the tour of New Zealand ending in January, they took on England at home from February through April. A few star players like captain Chris Gayle, Fidel Edwards and Darren Bravo then left for South Africa to represent their respective franchises in the IPL, held towards the end of April. They had to be back in England mid-way through the tournament for the return series in May, just ahead of the recently-concluded ICC World Twenty20.

Dyson though, said he expected a total team effort from all his players. “The squad’s balanced fairly well,” he said. “If you look at the possible side that could walk on the field, we’ve got an extra batsman, we have an allrounder who is also a very good batsman, [we have] normal pace and reserve pace, which is good. Our spinner [Sulieman Benn], hopefully Chris [Gayle] will be providing back-up spin to him.”

When asked if West Indies would target specific Indian players, Dyson said, “We always look at the opposition and try and determine who the key players are for the opposition and think of ways that we may combat those key players. What we don’t know, of course, is from the low-profile players, how they are going to perform and perform consistently throughout a series. So that’s something we have to monitor as the series progresses.”

Dyson said the pitches would also prove to be extremely crucial in determining which way the series went. “It depends on the sort of wickets we’re playing on, on the conditions of the day, and the form our own players are in, and the opposition players are in.”
Source:Cricket News

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