West Indies look to attack Panesar

Ramnaresh Sarwan and coach David Moore maintain a keen eye on the practice session on the eve of the second Test. © Getty Images

Ramnaresh Sarwan, the West Indies captain, has said that his team will look to play positively against England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, who took 6 for 129 in the first innings of the first Test as West Indies were bowled out for 437. Panesar had a record five lbw decisions given in his favour.

"We hadn't played him before Lord's so he was quite new to most of us. He didn't get many wickets with the turning ball but get got a lot of wickets with his arm ball and that is something that we'll be looking at", Sarwan said, speaking on the eve of the second Test. "One of the things we're trying to do is to stay on top of their main bowlers. We saw when Australia played them they were positive against [Steve] Harmison and we have the similar type of approach. We'll have a better feel of Monty [Panesar] in this game so it's important that we try and stay on top".

Sarwan said that he was looking for the lower-order to contribute in the batting effort. The West Indies were 187 for 5 in the first innings of the Lord's Test before vital contributions from the middle- and lower-order helped them finish with 437.

Sarwan felt that the Headingley pitch looked to be slower and swing would be an important factor. "A few years ago when we played here and the Test match was finished in two days it was much better [for bowling] than what we see now. The pitches we've practiced on seem to be much slower and when you look at the Test pitch it seems to have a similar look on it. There would be a bit if turn on it I would think," said Sarwan. "I think the conditions have a lot to do with the swing bowling so it's important that we bowl consistent line and length and hold our chances when they come."

"Generally in England you have to bowl a full length because the ball tends to do a lot more than the Caribbean. In the second innings at Lord's we bowled quite a few short balls, in the first innings we were very hesitant about it and a couple of their players looked very shy so that's probably a tactic we might be using in this game"

Sarwan said that his team would look to build on their performances in the drawn first Test at Lord's. He brushed aside the fact that West Indies did not have enough practice before the series saying that the time spent on field during the first Test had prepared them for this encounter.