West Indies interim head coach Andre Coley happy with team's progress ahead of England series

Andre Coley, West Indies interim head coach, is happy with the team's planning and progress so far as they prepare to take on England in a five-match T20I series at the County Ground in Derby, starting on September 21.



“We've been blessed with good weather for most of the time. I think this has been good - that allowed us to be able to be outside. We have had a couple of good days and we have covered cricket-specific skills as well as strength and conditioning,” Coley said.



“So, it has given us an opportunity to have a baseline or get an indication of where we are as a squad. And it's also given us windows where we have identified areas that we can make some gains over the next couple of weeks before we get into the actual internationals.”



An 18-member West Indies squad started training, with focus on one-on-one skills sessions and will progress to have net sessions starting from Saturday (September 5) under the guidance of bowling coach Corey Collymore, assistant coach Esuan Crandon, and fielding coach Steve Liburd.



Also Read: West Indies’ Hayley Matthews, CEO Johnny Grave express delight at “cricket-focussed” series versus ENG



“Combination of being indoors and (an) opportunity to be out in clear as well has been good. Our first net session will be tomorrow. What we have done in the nets so far has been one-on-one,” Coley added.



“The bowlers have been generally going through their paces with one-on-one sessions with Corey - fine-tuning their actions and (focusing) on landing the ball in areas they want. The batters have been given an opportunity to do some one-on-ones with various coaches, including myself and Crandon  things that they need to do to get to the readiness to play. So yeah, it’s been good. They are in good place.”



Coles, who previously coached West Indies in 2012, expressed his happiness with the facilities in Derby and said the team so far haven’t faced any issues about being in the bio-bubble.



“There have been no issues at the moment, but the fact that we came in and we had to hit the ground running - just to get the planning, the use of the facilities and coordinate - . Obviously, to organize the sessions, for them to be effective, while adhering to the protocols in terms of the number of players allowed for each session and so on - that has taken some planning and coordination with the support staff,” he said.



“We had two full days of training with the exception of today where we had some rain, but we were able to make that adjustment and use indoor facilities. So, things have been so far so good. It's been comfortable for the time being.”



Also Read: Tammy Beaumont grateful that West Indies agreed to tour England



45-year-old Coley wants the team to team get acclimatized to the conditions before progressing to practice in the middle after a rest day on Sunday. He added that the plan is to work out roles for specific players and also use the opportunity to treat the facilities as their ‘home ground’ by the time the series starts.



“The plan is progress into competition play as soon as possible, so we have started with some of the basic things around all areas. Steve has been basically facilitating and running the fielding sessions (with) and Shayne (Cooper), the S&C (Strength and Conditioning Coach). We move into actual net sessions starting tomorrow and then we will have a day-off - an opportunity to get some rest after the three days,” said the former Jamaican fast bowler.



“When we come back on Sunday, we will have our first middle wicket practice. So, progression from one-on-one, to nets, to more of a team setting, we will understand what the game will be like and (what) being out in the middle will be like.”



“As we continue through the week, it will be a lot more (about) middle wicket practice, punctuated with some one-to-one sessions and net sessions in terms of working on specifics. Also, a couple of meetings to make sure we are on the same page, working out how we want to play, working out roles everybody will be expected to play,” he concluded.