Windies embrace fresh start

John Dyson and Chris Gayle have plenty to ponder ahead of the NatWest Series

West Indies are attempting to bounce back quickly from their Test series defeat to England and finally deliver when the NatWest Series begins.

The tourists have struggled to convince since their arrival in England a month ago, with their batting line-up continually struggling to cope with English conditions.

That was underlined when they lost by 10 wickets and an innings and 83 runs during the two-Test series, but captain Chris Gayle is hoping the change in format can spur West Indies into a performance in the opening one-day international at Headingley Carnegie.

"The Test series was a disaster for us so we're going to try and put that behind us and we're starting a new series now," said Gayle. "We want to get off to a good start and get some momentum going.

"The majority of the guys who are in the ODI squad will also be in the ICC World Twenty20 squad and I'm sure this series will be a benefit for us going into that tournament."

West Indies have been strengthened by several one-day specialists joining their squad including seamer Ravi Rampaul, batsman Runako Morton and all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, who has excelled for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

But for all their talented individuals - including captain Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Fidel Edwards - West Indies have lost their last four successive one-day series against major opposition.

"We've been a lot stronger in one-day cricket but at the same time we've lost the last few series," admitted Gayle. "It will be good to get back to winning again, which will lead in well to the Twenty20 World Cup."

"It's good to have Dwayne Bravo back. He's been brilliant in the IPL with bat and ball so at least he's been playing cricket.

“He is the sort of player that brings a lot of different strengths to the team with his batting, bowling and fielding."

Gayle, who warmed up for the one-day series by hitting 54 off 43 balls in the second Test at Durham, is again expected to open alongside Lendl Simmons with Rampaul and Bravo likely to slot straight into action.

England limited Gayle to just one destructive innings - 80 off 42 balls in Barbados - during the recent historic first one-day series win in the Caribbean and the West Indies captain admits he needs to make a bigger contribution to this series.

"I'm hitting the ball well, but what I'm trying to accomplish is be more consistent with the bat," he said. "My form has been on and off and I've been getting a big score and immediately follow it with a low score.

“What I want to do is get some big scores and ease the pressure off our backs."