We Showed Competitiveness - Ganga - Day 1 test 3

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom – West Indies captain Daren Ganga spoke with the media after his first day in the field as captain. Following are excerpts from his responses to various issues raised with him by journalists.

On whether it was the best day of the series so far for the West Indies:
Pretty much, I think it was a good day for us. We showed our competitiveness throughout the entire day. The first hour wasn't too pleasant in terms of run scoring but we were able to hold things together and commit to what we set out to do and it was a whole team effort.

On Corey Collymore putting pressure on England with his consistent line:
He is our most senior bowler and those are the things expected from Corey. He did exactly what was required. All the guys supported him with Jerome Taylor picking up two wickets. These are the sorts of things we need to inculcate more in our team with everyone contributing and being switched on and putting a performance forward for the common good of the team.

On Fidel Edwards unsettling the English batsmen with blistering pace:
That is exactly what we expected from Fidel. Our attack lacked a bit of penetration and more variety was something that you were going to see in this Test match. Fidel is that type of bowler, if he can come and knock the tail over it will be a good innings work for him.

On whether it may be a dangerous ploy to rough up Steve Harmison:
The guys are aware of his threat as a bowler but it's very important to send the right message to the opposition, it's a Test match. We are playing for our pride and playing to level the series so all the guys are geed up and it is very important for our competitiveness.

On whether England were overconfident or arrogant in their approach to batting:
Not exactly so, they went about their work in a normal sort of fashion. We were a little bit more consistent in terms of how we bowl and our energy on the field and that is very important. We put the ball in the right areas and we were able to create pressure. That is something that we lacked throughout the series so far, we did that today and it paid dividends for us.

On Daren Powell missing out:
It was a very close call, it was a judgment call. Our bowling hasn't shown the potency that we would like it to show and you need to make changes. If you continue doing the same things over and over again you will have to expect the same results. It was a change for the right, it was unfortunate that Daren had to be left out. He has been one of our best bowlers for the last couple years. I know he is going to be hungry and he is going to stay competitive and ensure that the guys who are playing will stay on their toes as well.