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West Indies captain Daren Ganga has promised an improved fielding display from his side in the fourth and final Test against England starting at the Riverside here on Friday (today).

West Indies fans often lament the loss of such bowling greats as Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall and Curtly Ambrose. But their fielding so far this series has been nowhere near the standards set by the likes of Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Roger Harper.

For example, in England’s 60-run third Test win at Old Trafford, which gave them an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-match series, Corey Collymore dropped a routine catch at long leg to reprieve Alastair Cook off Fidel Edwards.

And Jerome Taylor, who has made a number of errors this series, let a drive from Kevin Pietersen go through his legs at mid-off for four.

For former West Indies captain Richards, one of Test cricket’s outstanding cover-fielders as well as one of its greatest batsmen, it was too much to take.

“What we have witnessed here, the fielding, those elementary things, something is missing and you do worry and it does hurt,” he told BBC Radio Five Live during the Old Trafford Test.

Ganga, leading the side in the absence of the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan, said the side was working on their fielding with the help of Julien Fountain, a former England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) fielding coach.

“I know we didn’t really respond well in critical areas of the game,” said Ganga, as he reflected on the match at Old Trafford.

“Our batting in the first innings and our fielding left a lot to be desired,” the Trinidad and Tobago skipper told reporters at the Riverside on Thursday.

“We took on board a specialist fielding coach at the start of this tour. The unfortunate thing was we weren’t able to have a preparation camp before we came here. Our fielding has been something we have fallen down on in both one-day and Test cricket,” he explained.

“But we have been working hard to improve. It won’t happen overnight. But hopefully you’ll see a drastic improvement this Test match,” he added.

West Indies are looking for what would be only their third win in 39 Tests and Ganga admitted it was tough for members of a team, many of whom had never experienced victory at this level, to achieve a win.

“They always say that winning is a habit but a lot of players haven’t tasted that success. I think it’s very difficult for young players coming into a team that isn’t winning, having to put a big effort in time and time again and getting nothing for it,” he expressed.

“It’s a huge challenge we face as players and something we’ve got to keep working at. We’ve got to realise there’ light at the end of the tunnel and we’ve got the right work ethic and we believe strongly we are going to get back to winning ways,” he added