We wanted to finish it in 20 overs

After we bowled our 24 overs (reduced from 50 due to rain) against the England Lions in the first warm up game and we had a brief ten minutes change over, I was very surprised when Chris Gayle said that I would be opening the batting with him. I really thought he was just joking around. But he was serious and I was really happy.

I went out there and really wanted to experience, from the non-striker's end how he tears apart bowlers. Unfortunately he didn't get many and we didn't get the start that we wanted but Runako (Morton) and I kept the pressure on the England Lions bowlers throughout the innings.

Since we were going along well we decided that we would look to finish the game in 20 overs rather than 24. That did not happen. I got out and the game went down to the last over. We needed three runs from it but Runako slammed a huge six over mid wicket off the first ball.

The entire team was happy in the manner in which we went out and played. Importantly we were able to get the better of three of the England Lions bowlers (James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Michael Yardy) who are now on the full England squad and who they will be using during the series against us.

It was good to have a look at them and see first hand what they can do as new ball bowlers and what they can do with the old ball as well.

With the loss of the early wicket of Chris they really thought they had a chance against us. They thought once he got out early we would have been under pressure but Runako and I took the opportunity to do the job for our team. We played positively against the England Lions bowlers and they were surprised by it.

I am bit disappointed in the manner in which I got out. I would have loved to bat through the innings and finish off the game for the team. It is something I should learn from as an opportunity like this may occur in the series again and I should be able to adapt to it.

I have to personally thank the players who came in and played for us since we had injuries and some late arrivals. They took the opportunity to perform and I think they handled the pressure well.

In the field, as captain for the first time on this tour, Chris handled the bowlers well. He rotated them very well and he didn't allow the England Lions batsmen to get accustomed to one bowler.

By bringing on Marlon Samuels and himself, the slower bowling pulled back the run rate and they picked up wickets as well after England Lions got a very good start.

We will be playing two more warm up games, both 20/20s and then the two international 20/20s against England. We have only played one international 20/20 game as the West Indies team and that was against New Zealand in 2005.

It was very exciting; we finished the game in a tie and had the first ever bowl off in international 20/20. We lost the bowl off but it was very fast paced throughout. The team that makes fewer mistakes will win. You have to always be thinking quickly and make spur of the moment decisions and also take a lot of chances.

England are obviously accustomed playing 20/20. They have a lot of domestic 20/20 so they have more experience at the game that we do and they know their conditions better as well.

We'll try to learn as quickly as possible, adapt to the situation, and try to take the opportunities as they come our way.