Sunday 27 January 2019 09:17, UK
Head coach Trevor Bayliss has questioned the mindset of his England players after their heavy defeat to Windies in the first Test.
England were beaten by 381 runs in Barbados after being bowled out for 77 in their first innings and Bayliss believes that the issues are more mental than technical.
Part-time spinner Roston Chase took 8-60 for the Windies as England were bowled out for 246 on day four to go 1-0 down in the three-match series.
"The first session this morning, I thought we were going about it in the right manner," Bayliss told Sky Sports.
"The two openers and Jonny Bairstow at No 3, I thought batted extremely well, had their heads down, built a partnership and did the hard yards. The second session onwards was a bit more like the first innings.
"A number of the guys got starts, 20s or 30s, and looked like they were trying to go about it in the right fashion but the West Indies put us under pressure with the length they bowled. Then that broke down some of our techniques and also some of our shot selection wasn't great."
Asked if that suggested the problem facing England's batsmen was a lack of mental discipline, Bayliss said: "Personally, I think so. You don't have to have a perfect technique to score runs or take wickets in this game but it's how you use it and using it at the right time and playing what's in front of you. On this occasion, in this game, we've certainly been lacking in that department."
"The difficult thing about this is that it's been a rollercoaster ride, the way we've played Test cricket over the last 12 to 18 months has been really, really good. Unfortunately, over the past few years we throw in one of these performances every now and then which is not up to standard.
"But having done that in the past, the guys have come out in the next match and played really well. I think it sort of kicks them into gear. We'll have a chat about this and hopefully they're honest. Hopefully they haven't been taking it easy but we'll get to the bottom of it and see where we get to.
"In the lead up to a game it's no different to when we've been successful. I can't really explain but we'll sit down and go over and see it we can come up with any answers."
Bayliss was also asked if England's preparation for the series had contributed to the loss but while he admitted he would prefer to play in more competitive warm-up games, he highlighted the 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka as an example of a very similar build-up leading to success.
"Personally, I would like to play some first-class games before but when you've only got four days scheduled, to try and give everyone a go is difficult," he added.
"It's the way of the world these days. There is the odd big series, like the Ashes, where we had two games. We prepared there in two four-day games and lost 4-0.
"Again, I think it is more of the mindset. Can we get our head around the conditions and how the opposition are trying to get us out and be tough about it? 'You're not going to get me out.'"
Watch the second Test between Windies and England from 1.30pm, Thursday on Sky Sports Cricket.
