Moore admits lack of T20 knowledge

Twenty20 / Editor / 25 June 2007 / Leave a Comment

West Indies coach David Moore has admitted his side lacks the understanding of the Twenty20 game, after the tourists fell to a 51-run defeat at the hands of Derbyshire.

The tourists did well in the field to restrict the Phantoms to 135-6 off their allotted overs, with Chris Gayle taking two wickets, but their batsmen failed to get to grips with the run-chase and were subsequently bowled out for 84.

Austin Richards Jr top-scored with 25 but only two other players made double figures and Moore admits his side need to apply the basics to give themselves a better chance.

Moore said: "We haven't played enough of this type of cricket, particularly at international level. This is only our second Twenty20 game so the players are still coming to grips with it.

"The English county teams play Twenty20 cricket all the time and they play it pretty well and have worked out how to play the game. I think we need to play more of this type of cricket as a team.

"There is also such a thing as basic cricket knowledge and the batsmen should have applied that against Derbyshire.

"It is not just about learning new skills. It is about applying your knowledge. We missed a lot of opportunities for singles.

"There were too many attempted big hits rather than working the ball around. We played too many poor shots."

The Windies had expected to perform better in the one-day arena following their 3-0 defeat in the Test series but it was a disappointing opening to the shorter format as Derbyshire had won just one match in all competitions prior to Sunday's win.

England are expected to put their greater experience to full use in Thursday's first Twenty20 clash at the Brit Oval and Paul Collingwood's men are 1.54 favourites, with the tourists available at 2.8.

The home side are also fancied to take the two-match series, the second match is on Friday, and are trading at 2, with the draw next best at 2.3 and the Caribbean outfit on offer at 6.2.