Coach Jacobs: Kieran Powell has not been what we are looking for at times

Coach of the Leeward Islands cricket team Ridley Jacobs, in his assessment of captain Kieran Powell, said the Nevisian “has a lot of work to do.”
The statement comes on the heels of the team’s five-wicket victory over bottom-of-the-table Guyana in the WICB Regional Four-Day competition at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Grounds on Monday.
Powell failed with the bat in both innings, making 17 off 36 deliveries in the Leewards’ first innings before falling for seven in the team’s second innings.
“He has not been what we are looking for at times, not very consistent, and that is what we are looking for from the top and from the captain; but we still have another game left and I guess he can get it right in that game. He needs to be consistent in every aspect, catching, batting, just everything,” Jacobs said.
On the other hand, Jacobs a former West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman, lauded the recent performances of Devon Thomas who posted scores of 71 and 90 in the first and second innings, respectively, and Anthony “I-Roots” Martin who bagged four for 48 and five for 49.
Regarding their performances, Jacobs said he has been holding “serious” sit-down sessions with Thomas and a few other senior players including Gavin Tonge, who scored 57 not out in the second innings.
“I had some serious discussions with him knowing his ability and the talent has been wasted for so many years. I spoke to him seriously about getting in there and getting serious and working hard for Leeward Islands and himself. He must try, and once he does that I know he’s going to get good results,” the coach said.
“I think ‘I-Roots’ now is doing pretty well. He is very comfortable now because we are family. We’re trying to build a strong unit and we’re respecting each other and looking after each other.”
Despite the convincing win, Jacobs maintains that the team must continue to improve.
“There is still a lot of work left to do. At least we are winning games, so at least we know how to win. But the thing is that we have to do it consistently and we haven’t been doing that over a number of years,” he said.
“So we have to keep doing what is right to really turn the corner and I think we are far from turning the corner. We have been training very hard and we have been trying to do the right things and the simple things.
“We spoke at length and we did some batting in the mornings in the nets and I tell the guys that we just have to be patient and play every ball on its merit and at the end of the day we will rejoice and that is exactly what happened,” Jacobs added.
St Kitts’ Jacques Taylor has been named in the Leewards’ squad ahead of their match against Barbados starting on Friday. He replaces the injured Tonito Willett.
antiguaobserver.com