Joshua De Silva, the wicketkeeper-battler for the West Indies, stated on Tuesday that he sees an opportunity to assist his team win the second Test and salvage the series from England’s intense attention on the 2025–26 Ashes series against Australia during their current series.
At Trent Bridge in Nottingham, the second Test between England and the West Indies will begin on Thursday.
At Lord’s, England won convincingly by an innings and 114 runs to lead the three-match series 1-0.
James Anderson, a legendary pacer who leaves the game with 991 international wickets, including 704 Test wickets, played in his farewell match. Anderson joined the team on Tuesday and assumed the position of bowling coach. With one eye towards the 2025–26 Ashes series in Australia, where England is keen to reclaim the coveted urn after losing it in the 2017–18 campaign, Anderson made his retirement, his transition into a coach, and the debuts of wicketkeeper–batter Jamie Smith and bowler Gus Atkinson. Additionally, England last prevailed in an Ashes series in Australia during the 2010–11 season.
Silva stated that he is not bothered by England’s future preparations, which have drawn some flak from the cricket community for appearing to take the West Indies and Sri Lanka, the teams visiting the UK this summer, for granted. Instead, the wicketkeeper-batter is aware of the England team’s desire to prepare ahead of time for a task as significant as an away Ashes series.
Silva stated that England might have a chance to earn a crucial victory to maintain the series if they take WI for granted.
According to Da Silva, “that is their biggest fixture of their calendar,” as reported by ESPNCricinfo.
Therefore, if they are looking ahead, they want to develop a few players so that their squad is prepared for them. It is not at all improper of them, in my opinion.
No, we are not harmed by it. I do not focus on studying it. We still have cricket to play. We may win the game or the series if they treat us like second-class citizens. “I see that as a favor for me,” he said, wrapping up his remarks.
Although the batting in the first Test was below par, Da Silva, who scored 0 and 9 in his two innings, acknowledged that there were some encouraging aspects, such as individuals getting off to excellent starts.
“It is evident that several of us did not raise our hands during the batting. A couple of us were gently dismissed. After the first Test, we are really let down. We are eager for the second Test and have moved past it. We have also had our discussions. We are rebuilding and pushing hard for the upcoming Test, doing everything we can,” Silva stated.
Even though it does not seem like it, we have taken some advantages. Many men received starts but chose not to continue. We discussed how to handle pressure better and how we would respond in the event that we encountered similar circumstances again. Not dropping wickets in succession
Since everyone approaches things differently, it is important that we remember the process and have faith in it. It simply comes down to believing in our abilities and ensuring that the task is completed,” he said.