Rough ride for Collins and Hinds

Tough, real tough.

That was how Barbadians Pedro Collins and Ryan Hinds described their experiences on the just-concluded West Indies tour of Sri Lanka.

The Windies were soundly thrashed in all three Tests and beaten by the hosts in the final of the One-Day triangular series which also included Zimbabwe.

The wickets were really slow, and that forced me to work really hard in every spell, Collins said Saturday night when the trio of himself, Hinds and Corey Collymore returned home. Collins did the entire trip, while Collymore and Hinds went up for the One-Day segment.

In the One-Dayers, Collins had six wickets at 22.33 apiece at 3.60 per over. In his two Tests he took seven wickets at 43 apiece with a best haul of four for 78.

In Collymore's first bowl he was Man Of The Match with five for 51 against Sri Lanka. Overall he had nine wickets in five matches.

It was really tough, Collins added. When the wickets are that slow you have to concentrate even more on line and length, and the Sri Lankan batsmen are always very aggressive.

The lanky left-arm pacer noted he was still able to bowl well, because of his fitness, and he also worked on swinging the ball back into right-handers.

I always did well in my second spell and was able to pick up a few wickets.

There's no doubt I picked up quite a few things, even though we lost the series. I also have to work on keeping focused.

The 25-year-old Boscobel, St Peter, resident said he had to work for every single wicket.

The Sri Lankans don't simply give their wickets away. You have to work to get it, and they are very aggressive at the crease.

Concerning the team's next assignment against Pakistan, Collins said he expected the hosts to be very tough opposition.

Hinds, on his first trip with the senior team overseas, but familiar with Sri Lanka having previously played there as captain of the West Indies Under-19 team in the Youth World Cup, echoed Collins' sentiments.

I was a bit nervous at first, even though I had played there before, said the soft-spoken 20-year-old.

My first chance to play, we were in a very vital game, but the nerves eventually went away, and I was okay.

He had two not out innings of 15 and 16 and sent down five overs of left-arm spin for 27 runs.

I felt comfortable after a few days, but then I developed a slight shoulder injury.

Hinds added he wasn't disappointed at having to bat at No.8 in the final, after going in at No.4 in his debut game.

I was able to learn a lot in a short time from the older guys like Lara and Hooper, he said.