London, May 26 (IANS) West Indies coach Phil Simmons said that players have been given training programmes to follow at home as restrictions slowly ease off in the Carribean Islands post the lockdown forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
“For the past four weeks or a little bit more than that, guys have been given different programmes and have been asked to (train) even though they are locked away — because some territories had locked down very early — (to) find a room in their house or in their backyard to do work and keep themselves at a certain level of fitness,” Simmons has been quoted as saying by Jamaica Gleaner.
“As places have opened up, guys have been, in some places, able to run on the beach, and in other places, go run outside; but the training itself has been stepped up.
“And even now it (Caribbean) has opened up a little more, you have a few guys who can go out and bowl on a pitch somewhere just to get their rhythm back, so that’s how you have to progress.”
Simmons said that some of the bowlers have been able to do spot bowling. Cricket West Indies had earlier stated that it has a plan to send a 25-man squad to England in June ahead of a three-Test series that is scheduled to start a month later in bio-secure stadiums.
“I don’t think that at this stage there are enough facilities open where you can go and practise, but they’re a few grounds where bowlers themselves can go and bowl,” he said.
“There are no batsmen, only spot bowling, and we hope that this develops and develops and by the time (and) if the tour comes off and we’re ready to leave, everybody would’ve done something at home.”
–IANS
rkm/bbh