NORTH SOUND, Antigua (CMC) — West Indies Head Coach Phil Simmons says the first Test against England could have been more competitive with a better pitch, and he is hoping for a different surface at Kensington Oval when the next match of the Apex Series kicks off in Barbados on Wednesday.

A flat pitch at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium proved to be a major factor in the match which ended in a draw on the final of the opening Test on Saturday, as Nkrumah Bonner and Jason Holder worked together to nullify England’s attack.

“It’s disappointing for the fact that the cricket could have been better. Both sides bowled well on the pitch but I think with a better wicket we would have a better Test match, a more difficult Test match for either of the sides because the two bowling attacks are good bowling attacks,” he said.

“I’m hoping for a little more in the wicket [in Barbados]; I think it will make for a better Test match. I used to be a batsman but you can’t let batsmen have it easy all the time, and I think it’s hard for bowlers on wickets like these — so you need an even surface and [then]let us compete.”

Simmons said there was no nervousness on his part on the final day’s play, even after West Indies ended on 147 for four.

“I was more nervous when the review went up for Jason’s caught at slip,” he said. “The wicket has been flat and once you settle in and you put your head down it’s difficult to get wickets on that, so I wasn’t that nervous.”

The head coach admitted, however, that England, missing the iconic fast bowling duo of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad who were omitted following the disastrous Ashes Series in which the side went down 0-4 — had not made it easy for West Indies.

He reiterated a previous warning that in the absence of the experienced bowlers, younger players were hungry to make their mark and could not be underestimated.

“They’ve come here to play a hard-fought series and they’ve shown that they’re not going to lie down and give us the series, so it’s good to see the fight from them — and we know that the other two matches are going to be just as hard,” he said.

“It’s good that we ended up being put under pressure in the end there because they’d given themselves a chance with 70 overs to bowl against us and that’s how you want to finish a Test match — looking to win.”

Simmons spoke highly of Bonner, the eventual Man of the Match, who followed up his first-innings 123 with an unbeaten 38 in the Caribbean side’s final session.

Recalling the Jamaican’s scores of 86 and 90 in his debut series in February last year, he said Bonner continued to prove himself.

“He’s getting more and more consistent and he’s understanding his game more and more, so that’s brilliant for us,” Simmons said.

West Indies played before a crowd in which England supporters outnumbered the home crowd, leading the head coach to joke: “We were playing in Trent Bridge for the last few days, we were playing in Lord’s in Barbados in the T20s. We have no support but we’re fighting on.”

However, he said after a period of not having any fans at all in the stands, as COVID-19 protocols prevented spectators, it was great to see the fans and hear the music again. In fact, West Indies played behind closed doors at the same venue last March when Sri Lanka toured the Caribbean in what was the first Test series to be staged in the region since the start of the pandemic.

“It’s great that people are coming back to cricket,” Simmons said. “Things are getting back a little bit normal where cricket is concerned.”

The second Test will run from Wednesday to next Sunday and will be followed from March 24-28 with the third and final Test of the Apex Series at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada.