Interim Windies coach David Moore. - file

By Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor

BOOSTED by a drawn result in the first Test against England, West Indies coach David Moore says the regional team is seeking to be more consistent as it strives for better results on tour.

"Consistency is the key since I've been here for the last couple of years," Moore told reporters following the team's training session yesterday at Headingley, where the second Test begins tomorrow.

He added: "That (consistency) is something that we've been speaking about, that we've been looking at and we are looking forward to being challenged by England once again and rising to the challenge."

The West Indies had limited practice before the Test at Lord's as the majority of their only practice match was rained out, as well as huge chunks of the Test from which the Caribbean team emerged with flying colours.

England, batting first, posted 553 for five declared and 284 for eight, and the West Indies posted 437 all out and 89 without loss after they were set 401 for victory.

Bigger ambitions

Asked if the result means the Windies will now compete better in the series, Moore admitted they have bigger ambitions.

"We're here to do more than compete, we're here to try and win some games," he said. "Competing is one part, one process of winning cricket games. We're here to do our very best."

Queried about whether England may have underestimated the Windies, Moore, who replaced fellow Australian coach Bennett King who resigned after the World Cup, said he didn't think so.

"I don't think they underestimated us. They came out and tried to win the game, they were 553 in the first innings and were in very good shape when they had us 187 for five. The bottom line is that we came out and showed some good effort and some good fight and we got to a position where we could be there on the last day which is what we are after."

Given the lack of preparation and inexperience in English conditions, many expected the West Indies to lose the match. Moore was asked specifically on whether the draw could be seen as a victory for the Windies, to which he replied no.

"It's not a victory, it is a draw. We have done some great work which is good for the boys' confidence but we are aware that every game is a different game and we have to start again. We have to take the good things out of the first Test and work on the other things.

"Headingley is a different kettle of fish to Lord's, we all know that and we're going to be very focused on our task here. We know what we want to do and what we want to achieve so we will keep going along our path.

"We've got a little bit (practice) under the belt but we still need a lot more and the boys are getting used to every ground that we play on. Only a few of them have played over here before, particularly the bowlers, so every ground that we go to is a new experience for them."

Additionally, the coach listed some positives coming out of the Lords' Test, stressing more on the batting.

"There are a lot of good things that have come out of that performance at Lord's and there are things we need to improve on as well so we've come out with confidence but still knowing that we have to improve every game.

"The batting effort was fantastic. Being five for 187 and getting to where we got was really good and that's something that we can take heart from. All the batters contributed and down below we got 25 run partnerships from number nine and 10," said Moore.