Disappointed that I didn’t take West Indies across the line, admits Jermaine Blackwood
Despite his match-winning knock of 95, Jermaine Blackwood has expressed his disappointment in not able to take the Windies side across the line against England in the first Test. He also added that there was no pressure on him, with both coach Phil Simmons and Jason Holder trusting his instincts.
When the West Indies were reduced to 27-3 at the Rose Bowl, all twitchy eyes were looking at Jofra Archer who was making the ball talk. On the back of Windies’ past record away from home with the bat, almost all sans a few ruled their chances out in the fourth innings, chasing 200. But one man, who was in amidst of all things- Jermaine Blackwood sealed the deal for the visitors. His 154-ball 95, where he took the attack to the English bowling pack of Archer-Wood-Anderson saw Windies overcome the English challenge with a four-wicket victory.
Despite the victory and his outstanding knock under pressure, Jermaine Blackwood admitted that he was disappointed with himself not to finish the game off for the Caribbean side. In the four Tests that the right-hander has played against England away from home, he averages 42 and his only Test century ironically came against the Three Lions in 2015.
“It was very emotional for me when I got out, not because I got out, it was because I didn’t take my team across the line. I wasn’t thinking about the hundred, I was just thinking about winning the game for my team. I was very disappointed in myself when I got out at that stage of the game” he told the Jamaica Observer, reported Hindustan Times.
However, he added that there was never any sort of pressure on the Jamaican man to do what he did. Recalling the confidence given to him in the dressing room, Blackwood admitted that both Phil Simmons and Jason Holder had asked him to merely play his natural game. The 28-year-old, on the back of his 700 run season with Jamaica ensured that Windies came out of the contest unscathed with a four-wicket victory.
“At no point in time when I was going to bat in the second innings I felt pressure. Just before I went out to bat, the coach (Phil Simmons) and the captain both told me just to play my natural game, but just be selective,” he concluded.
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