Brian Lara advises West Indies to stay aggressive against England’s batting

Batting icon and former Test captain Brian Lara has advised the West Indies cricket team to adopt a “technical and tactical” approach to counter England’s potent batting line-up in the upcoming three-Test series at Lord’s.

The series begins next week, and Lara emphasized the need for the West Indies to remain “aggressive” on the field to avoid being overwhelmed by England’s dynamic batting style.

Lara, 55, highlighted the importance of maintaining attacking field placements and resisting the urge to become defensive too early. “I think more important is how the bowlers and the captain handle it in the field because we have to stay positive,” Lara told Sky Sports. “We have to stay aggressive in terms of having attacking fields, having players in attacking positions, because the way they [England] bat, England are going to have you pushing players out on the boundary – which is what they want.”

Technical and tactical

He continued, “You push your deep cover back or your third man back, your deep backward square back, it creates opportunities for them to get singles – four, five singles an over is actually great scoring. We’ve got to be very technical and tactical in terms of how we approach this series.”

Under head coach Brendon McCullum and Test captain Ben Stokes, England has embraced an aggressive style of play, dubbed ‘Bazball,’ which has put consistent pressure on opposing bowlers. This contrasts sharply with the West Indies’ more attritional style, which Lara suggested might be a disadvantage against England’s high-scoring approach.

“I don’t think first of all, as a batting team that [aggression] is our style, which actually is a little bit of a negative,” Lara noted. “If you’re going to come up against a side that’s scoring at five and six runs an over and you’re just going to score at 2.5, three runs an over, that in itself is asking for trouble.”

He added, “England is playing a style of cricket that is difficult to beat them, coming from behind. We’ve got to get them out cheaply in the first innings to stay in front of the game. If you get behind England – with the pace they play the game at – it’s impossible to get back into the game.”

Kemar Roach out of West Indies team

West Indies have already faced a setback with veteran seamer Kemar Roach ruled out due to a knee injury. This leaves the team with a relatively inexperienced attack, with only seamers Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph having played more than 10 Tests. Despite this, Lara expressed more concern about the batting line-up’s lack of experience in English conditions.

“I’m not worried too much about Kemar Roach missing out or the bowling attack. I think the bowling attack is pretty formidable,” Lara said. “I think the batting is where the experience is lacking. And they’re trying – the batters are trying – but it’s the fact that how much experience have they had in English conditions? So I’m hoping we can pull through in that department.”

The first Test is set to begin next Wednesday, July 10.