Windies coach disappointed with Ambrose criticism

Leeds [UK], August 24 (ANI): Stuart Law has expressed his disappointment at Curtly Ambrose's criticism of West Indies following the embarrassing first Test defeat against England.

West Indies suffered a crushing innings and 209-run defeat in the series opener at Edgbaston as the inaugural day/night Test in England ended inside three days.

Following which, Ambrose, West Indies legend, labeled the current side as "pathetic".

In the pre-match press conference, Law said he would have preferred the West Indies legend to talk to the players in person.

"That is disappointing," ESPNcricinfo quoted Law as saying of Ambrose's criticism.

"Curtly not long ago was a coach with this team so it is disappointing that criticism comes. We have to understand why it is there. We are not performing as well as we want. It would have been nice if he had come into the dressing room to talk to the guys and express his displeasure to us. That would have been awesome but that didn't happen. What can we do? We have to get our noses down, our backsides up and play better."

The West Indies coach further admitted that his side did not play well and have been honest about their assessment.

"We did not play well. We have been very honest with our assessment. A lot of guys have been asked to look at themselves in the mirror by the captain," he said.

West Indies have not won a match in England since 2000 and the 48-year-old Australian faces the difficult task of lifting his players after being crushed inside three days.

"We have been very open and forthcoming with thoughts on how they can get better and we are trying our very best to get it right in a short space of time. We are giving them every ounce of support. These guys have got a lot of talent. They just need a bit of experience. Once they get that they will be pretty good," he said.

He also claimed that his side will attempt to draw motivation from their win against Pakistan in early part of the year.

It may be recalled here that West Indies had defeated Pakistan at Barbados. However, since then they have struggled.

"We sat down and we talked about our Test series against Pakistan.We got beaten in two-and-a-half days in Jamaica and came back and won the second Test. We played the same team, they played the same team and our boys stood up," he said.

"Now we have had a look and seen what England are trying to do to us, we will have better knowledge going into it. We know what is coming, it is a matter of us finding a way to cope with it," he added.

Commenting on the atmosphere in the dressing room, Law said that they are very positive and he has belief in his young men who have great skills.

"In dressing room we are very positive. I believe in these young men. They have got high skills. It is just the experience of learning how to play in a very tough environment," he said.

West Indies captain Jason Holder has also called on each of his teammates to look themselves in the mirror and see where they can improve in the aftermath of the Edgbaston thrashing.

"We can't dwell on it, we have to critique each performance of each player, and look at ways we can move forward. But each player has to look himself in the mirror and see where they can improve," said Holder after the match.

"We've got to just believe, we have a few days off now, we have to use them wisely. We'll sit and talk, and formulate some plans about how we are going to go, but it's not impossible [to come back]," he added. (ANI)

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