New Zealand’s significantly cooler weather and its less hectic cricket environment will provide a challenge and some respite for the West Indies after their tour of India, skipper Darren Sammy says.
The allrounder was one of the late arrivals ahead of three Tests against the Black Caps, as the West Indies completed a 2-1 defeat in a one-day series on the sub-continent.
Sammy says the biggest hurdle facing the tourists with the first Test beginning in Dunedin on Tuesday will be getting used to the different conditions as quickly as possible.
It will be a case of hitting the ground running as they try to bounce back from the “humiliation” they suffered in their Test series in India, where they went down in both matches by an innings.
That series brought the curtain down on the great Sachin Tendulkar’s 200-Test career and, in a country passionate about cricket, his players were caught up in the frenzy over the master batsman’s retirement.
“It was all about Sachin’s last two Test appearances and the media were all crazy,” Sammy said.
“Here, it’s a little bit more peaceful. The guys can relax with not so many cameras in their face all the time and we know we can focus more on the game of cricket.”
Sammy is expecting the New Zealanders to have the added motivation of getting some payback over coming weeks, when the sides will also play five one-dayers and two Twenty20s.
He’s sure the Black Caps haven’t forgotten their last trip to the Caribbean in 2012, when they lost series in all three forms of the game.
“We expect them to come really hard at us and probably look to take revenge for what happened on our home turf, but we have our own ideas,” he said.
“We’ve come here to play good competitive cricket.
“People might say India didn’t go well for us, but it’s a new challenge, a new focus, and it’s a great way to finish the year on a high.”