Cricket: West Indies keep their cool as heat rises ahead of tour match at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium

WEST Indies captain Jason Holder says Saturday’s forecast scorching temperatures won’t be a factor as his team bids to resurrect its flailing summer in Geelong.
The heat is on the Windies both on and off the pitch after two humiliating performances, the latest an innings and 212 defeat to Australia inside three days.
While Cricket Australia has moved to combat the hot weather with additional drinks breaks and altered session times, Holder said his players are accustomed to 41C temperatures predicted for Geelong.
“Our guys are in shape for this,” Holder said ahead of the two-day clash against a Victorian invitational XI at Simonds Stadium.

“We expected this kind of weather before we got here so we’re just going to deal with it as it comes.
“Many of us have played in the subcontinent and we all know that it can be quite humid as well, so I don’t think it will be anything we haven’t experienced.

“It’s just a matter of adapting. We played in some cooler conditions (in Hobart) and now we face warmer conditions.”
Cricket Australia officials have taken full precaution in the heatwave, declaring they will “consider steps on top of the existing measures already in place to combat hot weather”.
This includes alterations to scheduled sessions, breaks to avoid the hottest parts of the day, additional drinks breaks, greater hydration intake, rotation of fielding substitutes and access to ice and ice vests.
The Windies will have played just one match in 14 days and Holder admitted the team would have preferred a more intensive hitout between Test matches.
“Ideally we would’ve liked a four-day game, perhaps a three-day game, but this is what we’ve been given,” Holder said.
“You can’t change it this time, and it’s a long way before the next Test match. So it’s just about utilising your time as best as possible.”
With 10 days’ break and just a handful of scheduled training sessions, the West Indies have had plenty of time to “reflect and assess” where they went wrong in Hobart.
“It’s just about putting things right in the second Test,” Holder said.
“We’ve been written off before the series started, and we didn’t get some good comments after the first Test, so it’s just about rebounding and using it as motivation to push us into the second Test match.”
Holder stressed there was no need for wholesale changes, confident his side can bounce back on Boxing Day.
“There’s no need to mess up things. We weren’t good enough in the first Test, we didn’t spend enough time in the middle as batsmen and as bowlers we were inconsistent and ill-disciplined,” he said.
“That’s the two main areas for us. We need to spend time at the crease, occupy the crease as much as possible and fight a little harder at the start of our innings.
“I think there’s a lot of runs to be had, so it’s about digging in and fighting through the tough periods. For our bowlers it’s pretty much the same thing, we need to bowl in consistent areas for longer periods.”