PREPARING WELL IS THE KEY – DAVID MOORE W.I. NEW COACH

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Newly appointed coach of the West Indies team David Moore says the team has to cultivate the will to prepare to do well.

"We have the will to do well but we have to have the will to prepare to do well, we need to prepare ourselves to compete consistently well at the highest level," said the 42 year old Australian who is taking over from resigned head coach Bennett King.

"We are in a situation where we are coming off the back of playing a lot of one day cricket and moving into Test matches which is a real test of one's skill," said the former assistant to King who resigned after the World Cup campaign.

"In our last Test series (against Pakistan) we played some respectable cricket without gaining any wins and it now requires that we spend some quality time in preparing for Test cricket against a tough opposition at home," Moore said on Monday afternoon as the team assembled in Barbados before departure to London.

"We do not have a lot of time, but we do have one warm up game and we have to utilize the time effectively and get into the rhythm of Test cricket again," said the former wicketkeeper who played one game for Australian state side New South Wales.

"Traditionally the wickets in England are a bit more fresh and have more moisture earlier in the season and it means the pitches would do a little bit more but having followed the English first class season so far the wickets appear to be a little flatter with a lot of runs being scored," Moore said of the English conditions.

Moore is looking for the tour to England to be a fresh start after the resignation of legendary batsman and captain Brian Lara.

"We've got a brand new captain, the head coach has resigned so from our point of view as team management it's a fresh start, it's a good opportunity to move the team forward and we will be looking to all the players to perform at their best levels and looking for each player to move forward on and off the field, in training and in representing the West Indian people in public," Moore asserted.

"We've lost Brian (Lara) which is a major loss and it leaves a big hole but it is a wonderful opportunity for all the batsmen to stake a claim in replacing him in the side, " Moore reasoned.

"We've got Daren Ganga, who has scored some quality runs, opening the batting, once we get through the new ball and establish a base for us to score runs we then need the middle order to capitalize on that and for players to go ahead to score Test hundreds and there is a chance for those batters to establish themselves," Moore said as he turned his attention to the team's batting.

"Also I'm looking for players like (Dwayne) Bravo and (Denesh) Ramdin to also score runs in the lower middle order, it's an important area for us in the past and these guys need to perform," Moore continued.

"(Chris) Gayle, (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul and (Ramnaresh) Sarwan are all quality batsmen but they are probably not happy with the amount of runs they have been scoring recently in Test cricket and we are looking to them to contribute in the batting order," Moore assessed.

"On the bowling side of things I feel Corey Collymore is a key in our attack, he has been frugal with runs scored against him and can get the ball to swing," Moore said as he identified key weapons in his team's bowling attack.

"Overall we have a very good young team who are still learning about all facets of their cricket and I'm really looking forward to working with them during this tour and if they can get their processes right we can certainly compete with the opposition," Moore concluded.

The West Indies team leaves Barbados on Tuesday afternoon for England where they will play four Test matches, two 20/20 games and three One Day Internationals.