Shannon Gabriel Reveals West Indies' Plans To Disturb English Batsmen

Updated - 20 Jun 2020, 04:32 PM

Shannon Gabriel, Joe Root, Windies vs England 2019
Shannon Gabriel. (Credits - Getty)

West Indies paceman Shannon Gabriel opens up on the strategy they would use to unsettle England in the upcoming Test series in July. International cricket is all set to resume after a lengthy break as the Caribbeans take on the English in the three-Test series in a much-awaited leg. Shannon Gabriel is amongst the 14-man party as part of their reserves, who has landed on the English shores.

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The 32-year old played a reasonably significant role the last time two teams squared against each other in West Indies. Gabriel took nine wickets in three Tests at 31.22 as the hosts won their first Test series against England since 2009. The two sides would compete once again for the Wisden Trophy while West Indies would look to defend it.

Ollie Pope
Ollie Pope would indeed be in focus. (Credits: Twitter)

While swing and movement plays a vital role in England, Shannon Gabriel feels that they should stick to what they deployed back home. The seamer thinks that they should use pace to cause discomfort to the English batsmen and shouldn’t try to fix what is not broken.

I don’t think the plans should change too much from what we did in the Caribbean. We used pace and that worked. What we did was successful. I don’t think we should fix anything that is not broken.” Gabriel stated as quoted by Times of India.

I’ve played a few Test matches, and I know how to prepare: Shannon Gabriel

Shannon Gabriel, Bangladesh vs Windies 2018
Shannon Gabriel (PC – Getty)

The Trinidad and Tobago seamer, who is recovering from an ankle injury, claims that he is eager to get back to playing.

Hence, the 32-year-old is looking forward to the warm-up games and stake his claim to be in the playing eleven. Shannon Gabriel has 133 wickets from 45 Tests at 30.6. The first Test begins in Southampton from the 8th of July before moving on to Manchester for the next two.

After being away from the game so long, almost six or seven months, you’re kind of hungry to get back on the field. I’m looking forward to the warm-up games and then we will take it from there. I’ve played a few Test matches before, so I know how to prepare. The last time I played (for West Indies) was the India series (last September) in Jamaica. I want to play, I want to be ready to play against England.” he added.

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Shannon Gabriel West Indies National Cricket Team