Dyson: England have learnt lesson

John Dyson is warning West Indies not to expect England to repeat their Caribbean mistakes which cost them the Tests

West Indies coach John Dyson believes England will not be guilty of complacency when the sides resume battle at Lord’s on May 6.

England suffered a shock 1-0 defeat in the five-Test series before restoring a degree of pride by winning the one-day series 3-2 to end the tour.

But Dyson feels England will have learnt their lesson as they look for a morale-boosting success ahead of the Ashes later in the summer.

Dyson said: “I think we caught England on the hop in the West Indies. I think they came out thinking they were just going to have a net and just get ready for the Ashes.

“Hopefully they are still in that frame of mind and we might just catch them on the hop again. Who knows?

“They got caught being a little bit too complacent in the West Indies. I don’t think they will be that complacent again.

“I think they will be out for revenge. It is our challenge to make sure that they don’t get it in the return series over here.”

Dyson accepts that England will be favourites on home soil but is confident his players can again cause them problems.

They will take on Leicestershire and Essex in three-day games before tackling the England Lions at Derby in a four-day match prior to the first Test.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Denesh Ramdin is West Indies captain until Chris Gayle arrives from the IPL

Former Australia batsman Dyson added: “On home soil England start as favourites but I think we did play some good cricket against them this winter.

“We had to fight like crazy on a couple of occasions and that was good for building spirit in the team and building confidence.

“It is a matter here of getting some practice in the lead-up games because conditions will be totally different to what we had in the West Indies.

“Some of the players we have got here, the conditions might suit them.

“The decks in the West Indies were just too flat. It was not a case of us requesting those wickets; that is the way they prepare them.

“It will be good to see wickets that offer everyone in the squad a bit more help because we have got some players who like that sort of help as well.”

West Indies captain Chris Gayle and paceman Fidel Edwards are participating in the Indian Premier League in South Africa and will not link up with the touring party until May 2.

But Dyson does not believe the absence of the skipper will be a handicap and reckons it will be a challenge for acting captain Denesh Ramdin.

He said: “Ramdin is an experienced cricketer now and I think this will do his cricket the world of good as well, giving him the responsibility to lead the team and test out his captaincy skills. I am not all that worried about that.”

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Jerome Taylor have been given a little extra time to recuperate after winter injury niggles and fly in for the game with Essex at Chelmsford starting on Saturday.