West Indies more consistent, says Dyson

KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC):

West Indies coach John Dyson was still buzzing yesterday from his side's famous innings and 23-runs victory over England, in the opening Test inside four days at Sabina Park.

It allowed Dyson the luxury of 'lyming' by the pool at the team's hotel and a few laps in the aquamarine water on what would have been the fifth and final day of the Test.

"I was pleased with the way the whole team stuck to the task," he told reporters yesterday just minutes before taking a celebratory dip in the pool.

Major contributions

"There were lots of contri-butions, including some major contributions from the high-profile players and they were well assisted by some of the other players.

"I also liked the way that when we had England on the ropes (on Saturday), we actually drove that advantage home and won the game."

Dyson was not quite prepared to refer to the victory as a turning point, but he was glad that many of the things he had preached to his players in the year were finally grasped and bore fruit.

"I think we are showing that some of those things are coming into our game," Dyson said.

"As I said about 12 months ago, people that want someone to come to the Caribbean and snap their fingers and do a Merlin the Magician and change things overnight will not see it happen.

"There are some long-term things and aspects of our game that take time to change and consistently reproduce in the middle."

Dyson thinks his side is beginning to show more consistency and once they can maintain this, the results will get better.

Good performance

"In the last 12 months, we have had a number of good performances and every time we have a good performance, people want to know if this is the turning point, is the West Indies on the way up," he said.

"But I keep saying that we have to be really patient because there are days when we have some terrific performances and there are some other days when we are not so good.

"We have become more consistent. We played a few consistent matches in New Zealand and we have continued here."

Recognised members

Dyson paid tribute to the handful of globally recognised members of the side - captain Chris Gayle, World Cricketer of the Year Shiv-narine Chanderpaaul and former captain Ramnaresh Sarwan.

"If you look at our established players, they have had a great time in the last 12 months," he said.

"Shiv has had a phenomenal year, Chris has had a phenomenal year in all forms of the game and Sars has had an extremely good year.

"What we need now is for some of the other players to show the ability which they have and put some consistent performances on the board.

"When we can put all the things together that is when we will play consistently good cricket."

The second Test at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua begins on Friday.