THERE WAS a time when West Indies batsmen, playing Calypso cricket, was iconic.

Then it became the bane of existence for the quickly floundering fortunes of the West Indies.

Now the West Indies batting line up can be expected to come from the other side of the spectrum. And West Indies great Brian Lara, doesn’t think it is helpful to attempt to be stodgy and obdurate with the way that England are playing their Test cricket.

The West Indies are in England for a Test series that begins next Wednesday.

“I don’t think first of all, as a batting team, that (aggression) is our style, which actually is a little bit of a negative. If you’re going to come up against a side that’s scoring at five and six runs an over and you’re just going to score at 2.5, three runs an over, that in itself is asking for trouble,” said Lara in an interview on Sky Sports.

According to Lara, playing defensive cricket forces you to come from behind and England’s brand of the game doesn’t allow for that.

“England is playing a style of cricket that is difficult to beat them, coming from behind. We’ve got to get them out cheaply in the first innings to stay in front of the game. If you get behind England – with the pace they play the game at – it’s impossible to get back into the game,” the legend explained.

According to Lara, the West Indies bowling, which has faced opposition in a warm-up, isn’t a problem for the West Indies, even without the experience of Kemar Roach, who is out injured.

“I’m not worried too much about Kemar Roach missing out or the bowling attack. I think the bowling attack is pretty formidable.

“I think the batting is where the experience is lacking. They’re trying, the batters are trying, but it’s the fact that, how much experience have they had in English conditions. So I’m hoping we can pull through in that department,” said the 55-year-old.

Lara said the way to beat England, is with that bowling and with smart cricket in the field.

“I think more important is how the bowlers and the captain handle it in the field because we have to stay positive. We have to stay aggressive in terms of having attacking fields, having players in attacking positions, because the way they (England) bat, England are going to have you pushing players out on the boundary – which is what they want,” he said.

“You push your deep cover back or your third man back, your deep backward square back, it creates opportunities for them to get singles – four, five singles an over is actually great scoring. We’ve got to be very technical and tactical in terms of how we approach this series.”