The West Indies have put their celebrations behind them and are focusing on cricket.
That was the message from West Indies captain Chris Gayle on Tuesday on the eve of the second Test against South Africa at Newlands on Wednesday.
The West Indies go into the Test with a 1-0 lead after beating South Africa by 128 runs in the first Test at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth last week.
”It’s all about cricket again,” said Gayle. ”We know South Africa will come hard at us, but we are up for the task. We know the basic swill be important, and we’ll take it session by session.”
Gayle said he had good memories of Newlands, where he has made 112 from 105 balls, but would not be relying on the past. ”I think in that match, there were about six centuries scored, by South Africa and by us. It’s a positive for us, but we’re not going to be too laid back and say, yes, it’s a pretty good wicket to bat on.
”We’ll try to assess the conditions as quickly as possible and capitalise on them. We’ll have to bat as well as we can, put our hands up again, and try to be standout.”
That match ended in a draw after the West Indies, who were chasing 441 to win, closed on 357-5.
Gayle said the West Indies had not targeted Dale Steyn in particular in Port Elizabeth.
”We respect each and every player, and play according to the situation. We play what we see out there.
”We know the new ball will be important. That’s going to play a big part.”
Gayle said the team had received numerous messages of congratulations from the Caribbean, including from the president of the West Indies Cricket Board and the Jamaican sports minister.
”Everyone’s very excited about what we have done, and that helps us keep our focus. They are willing us on to do the same again.”
West Indies coach John Dyson denied suggestions that he had been a miracle-worker with the West Indies team, coaching them to their first victory over South Africa in South Africa.
”You’ve got to give credit where the credit’s due,” he said. ”The guys are the ones who put in the performance on the field. They work hard in the nets, they think about their games a lot and they took what they were practising in the nets into the middle.
”What we’ve got to do each game is to go back to that. It’s a new game, and what matters is the next ball every time. We just have to keep reinforcing that. We’re going to play each ball on its merit — it’s a new game of cricket.” — Sapa