West Indies to count on pace attack in England, reveals Shannon Gabriel

Following the strategy that the West Indies had followed last year at home against England, the team would be focusing on its pace attack in their Test series against England in July, so insisted Shannon Gabriel. The 32-year-old fast bowler, who had incurred an injury and has now recovered, had played a major part in West Indies' 2-1 over England in 2019. Gabriel insisted that the team should be focusing on its strengths rather than delving into new strategies ahead of the tour. 

"I don't think the plans should change too much from what we did in the Caribbean. We used pace and that worked. What we did was successful. I don't think we should fix anything that is not broken," Gabriel told media via video conference, as quoted by TOI.

Due to his injury, which was followed by a recent ankle surgery, Gabriel was announced as one of the reserves for the England tour. However, the right-arm pacer attested that he would regain full fitness ahead of the series which starts on July 8. The England-West Indies series will mark the return of international cricket after it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gabriel last appeared in a Test match against India at home, in September 2019. 

"After being away from the game so long, almost six or seven months, you're kind of hungry to get back on the field. I'm looking forward to the warm-up games and then we will take it from there. I've played a few Test matches before, so I know how to prepare," Gabriel said.

"The last time I played (for West Indies) was the India series (last September) in Jamaica. I want to play, I want to be ready to play against England. I'm fully motivated. If you're playing for your country and you're not motivated, you really should not be on the field. This is not about half-hearted. You have to be all in.”

West Indies will have two inter-squad warm-up matches in Manchester before they travel to Southampton for the series-opener.