WEST INDIES cricket coach Ottis Gibson is banking on his bowling attack to get the job done against New Zealand when the opening match of a three-Test series bowls off today at Sabina Park.

Gibson said that the return from injury of Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach, to join forces with Shannon Gabriel and late addition Jason Holder, provides options in the pace bowling department. He added that the inclusion of Dominican off-spinner Shane Shillingford and Barbadian slow left-arm orthodox bowler Sulieman Benn offers a good balance.

“We believe any combination of bowlers that we put out there will do a good job for us. We haven’t batted well recently and I think we are all aware of that. Once we have runs on the board we have a good bowling attack that can defend those runs,” he told reporters at the completion of a training session at the match venue on Friday.

“We have Shane coming back in and we have Sulieman Benn, who has taken a lot of wickets in regional cricket in the last couple of years, getting another opportunity at the international level,” he said.

Gibson noted that most of his bowlers are also quite handy with the bat.

“Whether we go with two seamers and two spinners or three seamers and a spinner; the person that bats at number eight or number nine…are capable batsmen, and we expect quality with the ball, but also with the bat.”

The regional team coach also paid tribute to Jamaica’s hard-hitting opening batsman Chris Gayle, who is expected to make his 100th appearance in Test cricket.

“Obviously it is Chris’s 100th game, so it is a big occasion for him, and it will be great for him to get 100 in his 100th Test match, and that will do a great deal for the team.

“He has been a wonderful servant to the game of cricket in the West Indies and he has been an entertainer, so hopefully he will go out and entertain his home fans over the next five days and make a contribution to us winning the game.”

When quizzed about the fitness of the left-hander, who is struggling with a back ailment, Gibson responded:

“If he shows me that he is ready, then I trust him to go out and perform. I don’t think he will put himself in a situation where he goes out there and can’t get through the game.”