BIRMINGHAM, England:

Darren Sammy identified the consistent failure to win the key moments in another competitive series for West Indies led to their 2-0 Test series defeat against England.

The West Indies captain said his side lacked consistency throughout the three-Test series which drew to a wet conclusion yesterday at Edgbaston.

To emphasise his point, he also harked back to the preceding Digicel Test series against Australia, where West Indies also suffered a 2-0 series defeat in a three-Test series.

crucial moments

"We were competitive against Australia and should have won, but at crucial moments, we faltered and crumbled - and that's what happened again in England," he said.

"We were competitive, but we didn't compete for long enough over an extended period of time and hence we lost 2-0.

"If you subtract the sessions when we were really bad, we were up there competing."

Sammy said his side still had plenty about which to be proud, although they failed to win a match.

"Looking at the three Test matches, we scored over 320 in each Test with our top order not contributing," he said.

"To do that was a plus for us. I remember watching England against India, and India had a strong batting line-up and didn't get past 300, so credit to the guys who went out there and performed well for the team."

Sammy also highlighted the last-wicket stand between wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin and Tino Best, whose 95 - the highest score by a Test No.11 - helped West Indies post 426 in their first innings of the final Test here.

"We said we would come here with a never-say-die attitude and that last-wicket partnership was just a perfect example of the attitude we have," said Sammy.