Sammy wants to crack England

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

West Indies captain Darren Sammy suspects England may crack under pressure in the three-match Twenty20 series set to get under way at the Kensington Oval.

Sammy's ICC World Twenty20 champions have destructive opener Chris Gayle back in Bridgetown, after he missed the 2-1 one-day international defeat against England in Antigua.

They will therefore be at full strength, with the exception of powerful all-rounder Kieron Pollard, as they seek to complete preparations for the defence of their world title in Bangladesh.

Sammy believes they have all the right credentials again, for a tournament set to start in little more than a week's time, and is hoping for a morale-booster against England first.

"Yes, England did win the one-day series," he said.

"But we've shown that, once we put them under pressure, they don't respond too well.

"We're looking to do that in Twenty20 - and being defending champions, we have to go out and play like that."

Spin proved an important weapon in Antigua - and although the consensus is it may be less so on a quicker pitch here, Sammy has great faith in mystery off-spinner Sunil Narine and Twenty20 specialist leg-spinner Samuel Badree.

"In Twenty20, the spinners play a very important role - wherever the game is being played," he said.

"We welcome Badree back into the attack, with his (very good) Twenty20 economy rate, and we all know Narine is the number one bowler - and the Englishmen did not pick him too well.

"We expect it to be a run-fest, and we hope we can entertain the people and come out victorious."

Both teams are sure to have half-an-eye on the impending world tournament, but cannot afford to concentrate on that to the detriment of their performance as they seek confidence in Barbados.

"This is all final preparation going into the (Twenty20) World Cup," said Sammy.

"It's good to have matches where we can finalise the combination of our team, and these three matches present us with that opportunity."

Sammy's challenge then will be to energise his team again in the sub-continent.

"We still have the power in the team, and if we go out and perform to our full potential we know we will be the team to beat," he said.

"It's a great feeling to be world champions. But that's all gone.

"When we get to Bangladesh it's a fresh start, and everybody needs to do what we did in Sri Lanka again - which is to play as a team, play for the people ... to defend the title."

While England - Kevin Pietersen apart, after his international retirement - will play no part in the Indian Premier League this spring, the Windies will again be well-represented.

Sammy is delighted his players have the chance to continue their development against most of the world's best in India, and has little sympathy that England mostly cannot do so because of the overlap between their summer and the IPL.

"That's for England to think about," he said.

"We've had 12 or so West Indians playing in the (Indian Premier) league, which is good exposure for us as a region.

"We have marquee IPL players, and to have them all in one team sounds really good to me as a captain.

"So hard luck to England. But (them) not being part of the IPL doesn't bother me."