Manchester:The West Indies team boosts of a well-versed seam attack and would not swap anyone for star England pacer Jofra Archer, said wicket-keeper batsman Shane Dowrich ahead of their three-Test series beginning at Southampton on July 8.
“If you look at the main four in Shannon (Gabriel), Kemar (Roach), Jason (Holder) and Alzarri (Joseph), they all present different skills,” Dowrich, who has scored 1,444 runs in 31 Tests, was quoted as saying by Press Association (PA).
“Kemar is probably the most skilful of all them in terms of being able to get a consistent line and length, and moving the ball both ways. Shannon and Alzarri have a little more pace, and Jason is Mr Consistent; he can put the ball on a 10-pence piece.
“So I think we bring the whole dynamic, and then obviously you have young Chemar Holder coming up, who is an exciting talent and the way he bowled in first-class cricket this season shows that.
So I think we have a well-versed attack and I look forward to seeing them bowl in this series.” Dowrich described Barbados-born Archer as “amazing talent” but said they are pretty confident of their bowling unit. “I know Jofra pretty well, he’s an amazing talent and I wish him well going into this series. But at the end of the day when we cross that line, it’s the West Indies against England,” said Dowrich.
Asked if he would rather swap Archer with someone else in the West Indies attack than face him during the series, Dowrich said: “No. I think he’s made his decision in terms of where his career is going to go, and I wish him all the best, as I said.
“But at the end of the day we have a wonderful bowling line-up and I’m happy with the team that take the field with me.” Dowrich said he is looking to make an impact with the bat during the series which starts with the opening Test at Southampton on July 8. “I would love to score a Test hundred in England, it’s always a challenge but I think if you’re going to rate yourself as a player you have to be able to do it,” he said.
“And I think I’ve been putting in enough work to actually come up with something in this series.” Dowrich said the last tour to England changed him as a player. “The last time I was here was very tough for me, but it was a series that really changed around my career. I was young, in unfamiliar territory and I really didn’t cope very well with it to be honest,” he said.
“But since then I’ve been able to go away, and I’ve learned a lot from my experience of here last time. And I consider myself a different player to what I was three years ago.” The 28-year-old further added: “…in England batting will always be a challenge, but I think I’m ready and up for that.”(PTI)
