Trinidad and Tobago selector Claude Phillip has high hopes for Lendl Simmons, who he described as "a good selection" on the West Indies squad for the second Test against England in Antigua.
Phillip, a former national player, said he always had faith in the right handed Simmons, who he insisted has lifted his game this season and has been able to concentrate a lot more out in the middle.
"Simmons did surprise me a lot in terms of his concentration this season. I knew he had the ability and the talent, but his problem was being able to concentrate for long periods and to bat for almost two days is a great credit to him," said Phillip, referring to his knock for West Indies "A" against England in St Kitts last month.
Simmons scored a career-best 282 against the English in a tour match and that has given the 24-year-old a lot of confidence.
Phillip, although happy with the eventual selection of Simmons, was "disappointed" in the West Indies selectors who named the squad for the First Test against England in Jamaica before the tour match had even bowled off. But he insisted "that had been the policy of the West Indies selectors in the past so it is not different for the present and, as the saying goes, better late than never".
Phillip was also critical of Xavier Marshall, who was dropped from the First Test team, saying: "If he can't open he should not be in the West Indies team because there are too many middle order batsmen around to be persisting with him because he is not a good player of spin bowling and Simmons, if he does not open, could get that spot in place of Marshall."
On the repercussions of Simmons' selection on the regional squad, Phillip noted: "It will be a big blow for us...T&T."
Simmons has been one of the key players in the national squad this season but his absence, Phillip said, "will leave room for someone else to come in," hinting at the possible inclusion of Imran Khan for the next match, against the Leeward Islands, which also bowls off on Friday, at UWI's Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground.
"He (Khan) has been doing well this season and he could find himself in the final XI for the next game and this is what life is all about-you wait for the opportunity and when you get it what you have to do is grab it with both hands and put pressure on the selectors as to who to leave out for the next game.
"He (Simmons) has nothing to lose if he finds himself in the final West Indies XI, he just has to go out there and perform."
Of the other players who will be missing for T&T's next match, Phillip said Darren Bravo should be back in the fray in the next week or two and Ravi Rampaul has gotten the all clear to return to training with the team, but whether or not he will be match ready will be a different thing.
