King hopeful of Test success

Bennett King played down his poor record as West Indies coach while summing up his side's chances in the three-Test series in New Zealand beginning at Auckland on Thursday.

With two draws, one win and eight losses, six of them on a trot, from eleven Tests, King's record is unimpressive but he remained optimistic about the upcoming series. "We're looking forward to Test match cricket," King, the first foreign coach for the West Indies, told stuff.co.nz. "We believe we can make an impact. The belief within the group that they can perform against the Black Caps has been very firm.

"New Zealand are a very experienced side and do a lot of the basics really well. Their fielding certainly lifts them and takes them to a new height, they'd probably be the best fielding side in the world and we have to set our standards against those, and not just match them but move past them." King added that the arrival of Brian Lara, Daren Powell and Devon Smith would bolster the side for the Tests.

Chris Gayle, the aggressive opener, has failed to get going on the tour, and King cited New Zealand's bouncy pitches as the main reason. "What works in the Caribbean doesn't necessarily work for him (Gayle) overseas and the wickets in the Caribbean aren't as bouncy as some of the ones we see here or in Australia," King said. "As a cricketer you have to be able to adjust, so we've been trying to install some of the qualities and characteristics you need to succeed on different types of wicket. Our domestic wickets are not conducive to what you find overseas. It's very difficult to get balls above the knee these days on the Caribbean surfaces. Here you have to get used to balls around your headlights."

Daniel Vettori, New Zealand's vice-captain, added that if Gayle's poor run continued it would be good for the home side. "Shane (Bond) stepped up to the plate and did well. We'd like to keep Gayle under the hammer a bit because we now how effective he can be," he said. "He's got a Test triple hundred, and anyone who's done that is a class player. If we can do that from the first Test onwards, it will go a long way to winning the series."

Bond, who looked in top gear in New Zealand's 4-1 drubbing of the tourists in the one-day series, said he was ready for the longer battle. "I'm pretty well conditioned... I think I'm going to have a few aches and pains after the first day from being on my feet in the field, but with the one-day cricket I've had three or four spells per game so I've had to bowl, cool down then come back," he said. "I'm sure I'll get through three spells fine, the last spell maybe a bit of a struggle especially on the first day, but as the series goes on I'll get stronger and won't be too worried about it."