West Indies captain Chris Gayle is preparing his side for an England backlash when the second Test begins tomorrow.
West Indies captain Chris Gayle is preparing his side for an England backlash when the second Test begins tomorrow.
Gayle's team lead the four-match series 1-0 after their thrilling innings victory at Sabina Park last weekend.
Having shown their ability by beating South Africa away in the Boxing Day Test of 2007 and defeating Sri Lanka in another Test last year, it is perhaps a sign of West Indies turning a corner.
"We have good momentum going into the game but we will not relax or be too over-confident," Gayle said.
"We still have a lot of games to play and this game is very important because England will want to rebound strongly and make some statement. "We definitely need to stop them from coming back too strong.
"There are two games after this one, so the series is still wide open.
"We have to try to capitalise on the start we've had. The last time we got a start like this was in South Africa and we lost the series 2-1.
"At home, hopefully we can keep the advantage in our favour."
The hosts will make at least one change from their successful XI in Jamaica with Xavier Marshall axed. Lendl Simmons, who cracked 282 for West Indies A against England last month, and Ryan Hinds are vying for that spot, although both could conceivably feature if Devon Smith is also overlooked.
Whichever combination makes the field, however, Gayle hopes they can maintain a feel-good factor in West Indies cricket, in the face of reports that Sir Allen Stanford is poised to pull out of his annual 20 million-dollar showdowns after just one year.
