WI ‘A’ coach wants players to be best versions of themselves

SYLHET, Bangladesh (CMC):

West Indies 'A' head coach, Rayon Griffith, says one of his main roles on the three-match 'Test' tour of Bangladesh is to foster an environment where players can further develop their talent.

The Guyanese, the assistant coach on the recent Test tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa, said communication would be critical to this process in consultation with captain Joshua Da Silva.

"I'm impressed with the talent that we have in the team. As management, we're creating an environment for the (players) to be the best version of themselves," Griffith said ahead of the opening four-day 'Test' today.

"On top of that, Joshua, who is captain of the side, plays with the Test side, and I've worked with him, so the relationship is already there, which is good.

"Both of us are trying to send the right messages to the players or have the right message, and we can be consistent, so we can allow the players to express themselves instead of not allowing them to have that clarity.

"We want to be as clear as possible and to make sure - as I said - to let them be themselves and play the cricket (as freely as possible)."

Meanwhile, captain Da Silva said West Indies 'A' were focused on playing a results-oriented brand of cricket against their opponents.

The first-choice gloveman said West Indies 'A' had been hard at work since arriving last Thursday and were intent on using an approach, which would guarantee them success.

"As a team, we just want to play a brand of cricket that we want to be proud of and that we can use to bring results because we want to win," Da Silva said.

"Our strategy is just to play our game and play the (kind) of cricket we know how to play, and hopefully that will bring the results with the efforts we're putting in."

The 15-man squad includes three other players with Test experience - opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul, fast bowling all-rounder Raymon Reifer and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie.

All three players featured in West Indies' last Test series against South Africa in March when West Indies lost both to the hosts.