Law disappointed by Ambrose criticism

Coach Stuart Law has urged his West Indies side to ignore the condemnation they have received from various former players following their first Test horror show.

Quick Single: Legends slam 'pathetic' Windies

And while the Australian acknowledged their thrashing at Edgbaston had been a "mismatch", he said even the best teams in the world have found it hard to handle England's star quicks in swinging conditions.

Law's men lost 19 wickets on the third day in Birmingham, with England new-ball duo James Anderson and Stuart Broad doing most of the damage as the Windies were skittled for 168 and 137.

Law, who enjoyed successful spells as a player with English counties Essex and Lancashire, reminded reporters at Headingley that far better-credentialed batting sides than the Windies had struggled against the moving ball in the UK.

"Australia came here a couple of years ago, got bowled out for 60 (when England clinched the Ashes at Trent Bridge in 2015), so we're not going too bad," Law said.

"International cricket's pretty tough and in this part of the world, when you are playing against an experienced England side, it's even tougher.

"It's a difficult game when you are playing against two guys (Anderson and Broad) who've got nearly 1000 wickets in Test cricket and we've got guys playing their first games here.

"We had to bat against two pretty decent bowlers in favourable conditions under lights and when it was overcast. Taking that in, we understand we've got to be better and we're aiming to do that."

Windies great Curtly Ambrose labelled the current crop "pathetic" and "embarrassing" following their defeat at Edgbaston, while Geoffrey Boycott and Michael Vaughan were also quick to lament the state of Windies cricket.

Law was saddened by the criticism of ex-bowling coach Ambrose but the 48-year-old acknowledged the only way to silence the doubters is to improve on their display in the second Test at Headingley, which gets under way on Friday.

"That is disappointing, Curtly not long ago was the coach of this team so it is disappointing that criticism comes," he said.

"We have to understand why it is there. We are not performing as well as we want.

"It would have been nice if he had come into the dressing room to talk to the guys and express his displeasure to us. That would have been awesome but that didn't happen. What can we do?

"We have to get our noses down, our backsides up and play better."

Law, who took charge in February, indicated West Indies would retain the same XI for the Leeds Test.