NASH CENTURY REWARD FOR HARD WORK

NASH CENTURY REWARD FOR HARD WORK

 

Tuesday, March 10 –Port of Spain, Trinidad:  Brenden Nash’s maiden Test century on day four of the 5^th Digicel Test against England was the culmination of a long road of travel and tough grind for the Australian-born West Indies left-hander.

 

“It’s been many years of hard work,” the 31-year-old Nash said after play. “To finally get the opportunity to be there on 98 and 99 was very nervous but I finally got there in the end so I was pretty happy with that obviously.”

 

Nash was brought up in Australia and spent the early part of his first-class career with Queensland (from 2000-2006) before he made the difficult decision to head to Jamaica, the island of his parents Paul and Andrea to further his cricket opportunities in the summer of 2007.

 

He swiftly moved through the ranks and made his West Indies debut last August and now, has shown he belongs at the highest level.

 

Nash, whose wife Hannah was here to witness his landmark moment, said it was all about making the most of your ability: “I’m not the most gifted player and naturally talented or stroke-playing, free-flowing player but I work with what I have and hopefully it pays off on the day.

 

“When I get the opportunity to bat, I like to stay out there as long as I can, even if I’m not scoring runs. If I’m doing a job for the team then that’s what it’s about. That’s something I’ve built my game around.”

 

Nash century came as he shared a record fifth wicket partnership with veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who notched his 21^st test hundred.

 

“Obviously, Shiv and I had to work together and sort of build a partnership,” Nash said. “It’s very easy to do with him. He likes to bat time and that’s something I’ve learnt from him and hopefully continue to do so in the future.

 

“He makes the game look simple and that gives you a bit of confidence at the other end. He’s doesn’t look like he’s going to get out so you can just play your game and go from there.”

 

Nash said that the West Indies were prepared for a tough last day as England pushed for a series-leveling victory: “England have come out like they want to play for a result. We’re going to be on our toes and try to restrict the scoring early tomorrow.”

 

He also did not discount a West Indies win should England declare and set an enticing target: “We haven’t spoken about it but obviously we’ve got some pretty good hitters in our side and some fast-scoring batsmen so any target we’ll have to assess it at the time and go from there.

 

“It’s a lot easier with the newer ball. As the ball gets a bit older, it obviously spins a bit more and that will come into play.  We’ve really got to watch when we get our opportunity to bat and make sure we really have a game plan in mind and we stick to it.”