West Indies have to hit the road running and stamp their authority on England: Lara

Tags: West Indies tour of England, 2020, England, West Indies, Brian Charles Lara

Published on: Jul 08, 2020

International cricket will resume with England taking on West Indies in the first Test of a three-match series at Southampton on Wednesday. The hosts will be led by Ben Stokes in the absence of regular skipper Joe Root. More significantly, the match will be played in a bio-secure environment, without crowds, in the wake of Coronavirus wreaking havoc all over the world.

England will undoubtedly be favourites. However, West Indies have given the opponents a tough fight in recent years. They drew a hard-fought series 1-1 in England in 2015. And while their last tour to the country ended in a 1-2 defeat, West Indies stunned them 2-1 at home early last year. As such, the Windies would be a confident lot.

According to former West Indies captain and batting great Brian Lara, the visitors will have to be on their toes right through to give England a tough fight. “They (West Indies) have to be able to pounce immediately. England are not beaten very easily at home and are overwhelming favourites,” Lara was quoted as saying in a BBC Sport.

“They have to hit the road running and stamp their authority on England. I don’t think they can last five days, so they have to take these games in four days. They have to establish a lead and keep it,” the former southpaw added.

The 51-year-old, who registered his top two Test scores of 400 and 375 against England, further stated that West Indies will have to adapt to English conditions swiftly to do well. “It’s going to be a series that’s watched all around the world and everybody is hoping to see a competitive series,” explained Lara, who finished his Test career with 11953 runs.

“It would mean a lot to all West Indians if they could win. If they play good cricket on the first day of the Test series, show they have the mettle to perform against England, that’s the key,” he said.

West Indies haven’t won a Test series in England since 1988

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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