Law to follow Aussie way for Windies glory

Australian Stuart Law intends applying some of his native man-management skills to maximise West Indies' potential in three ODIs against England.

West Indies coach Stuart Law will follow the Australian way as he tries to maximise West Indies' potential in three ODIs against England.

In short, there will be more than a touch of compatriot and England mentor Trevor Bayliss about Law's methods - and he does not mind admitting it.

Law worked as assistant to Bayliss when the two Australians were coaching Sri Lanka together, and he learned a little laissez-faire can go a long way towards preparing players for international cricket.

The former Australia batsman, prolific with Essex and then Lancashire, has a mighty task on his hands to galvanise a regular winning force in the Caribbean - with a line-up minus many of the Windies' highest-profile players.

He said of his approach to the job: "It is Trevor Bayliss - I learned a lot from 'TB'.

"I saw the success he had doing that, and you'd be mad not to take a little bit from it.

"When the game starts I get more emotional (than Bayliss), but overall it is an Australia way - to have faith in your players being prepared as well as they can be."

Law's task is perhaps unenviable, a point spelled out by former England seamer Gladstone Small.

Barbados-born Small regrets much that has happened in his native islands of late, despite wins in two of the last three stagings of the ICC World Twenty20.

"Sadly the West Indies - in the last few years, quite a few years now - just seem to lurch from one crisis to the next," said Small.

"They are not going to have their strongest team (against England) - because the likes of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and three or four others don't play.

"It's all become a bit of a noose around the necks of the selectors, who can't pick their best players."

Those absences have resulted from a series of stand-offs between playing staff and the West Indies Cricket Board.

But Small still believes that in Law, captain Jason Holder and director of cricket Jimmy Adams, there are some fine men in place.

"I'm a big fan of the captain - only a young cricketer ... (and) Jimmy is a great guy, top cricketer ... he will know what is required.

"I also like the appointment of Stuart Law ... he'll know what sort of cricketer he's looking at .

"I hope Jimmy and Stuart get given the reins, resource to help them develop West Indies cricket, back to where it ought to be.

"It takes a lot of goodwill and resourcing. It doesn't happen overnight - you need to lay those foundations."

Law senses he also has a young team who will listen.

"They are very relaxed, but when they play they are high intensity," he said.

"That's how I like to operate. They are self-driven rather than sit back and wait to be told - that's an easier way to coach, to facilitate.

"I don't want to be shouting, telling them what to do."


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Source: AAP



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