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West Indies out to regain respect
From the pink ball, big crowds and a sense of excitement to the red ball, fewer spectators and a sense of trepidation. Such is the shift in the Test landscape in Australia over the past fortnight. The inaugural day-night Test
Jason Holder and Steven Smith pose with the Frank Worrell Trophy. ©Getty Images
against New Zealand lasted only three days but provided plenty of reasons to watch, not only for the novelty value but for the close contest and tight finish.
Now, Australia host West Indies for three Tests and the interest level from the Australian public has fallen away significantly, not helped by West Indies’ 10-wicket loss to a Cricket Australia XI full of rookies in their only tour match in Brisbane.
Ticket prices have been slashed but there are still concerns that the stands at Bellerive Oval will be sparsely populated, especially given the first two days of the Test are weekdays. It is into this environment that Jason Holder and his squad arrived.
Their task is enormous. He knows it. His team knows it. The Australians know it. For more than 20 years Australia have held the Frank Worrell Trophy, and West Indies’ chances of regaining it have rarely been poorer than this.
When the teams met in the Caribbean earlier this year, Australia won 2-0. Now Australia have the home advantage. West Indies have not won a single Test match away from home against anyone but Bangladesh in nearly eight years.
They have an attack capable of causing trouble, but only three of their batsmen have averaged over 30 in the past year – and none over 40. At least they have their coach back, Phil Simmons having been reinstated after his suspension in September for criticising a squad selection.
Even so, it seems the best West Indies can hope for in this series is to regain some respect rather than the trophy. Australia are coming off a 2-0 victory over New Zealand but the series was closer than that scoreline suggests, and the result largely reflected New Zealand’s awful start in Brisbane.
There are personnel changes, too. Mitchell Starc is out of this series due to his foot injury while Usman Khawaja, who missed the Adelaide Test with a hamstring problem, is again sidelined in Hobart.
James Pattinson returns for his first Test in 18 months and Shaun Marsh is hoping to build on his encouraging performance in Adelaide, but they are among a number of Australians still trying to establish themselves in this Test team.
And given the low expectations being placed on West Indies, the pressure is all on Steven Smith’s developing side not to stumble.
Carlos Brathwaite impressed during the tour match in Brisbane and could be in line for a Test debut, which would likely mean Shannon Gabriel would miss out. Shai Hope is yet to score a half-century in his five-Test career and Rajendra Chandrika played ahead of him in the warm-up match; whichever opener joins Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies will need them to put a high price on their wicket.
West Indies (possible) 1 Kraigg Brathwaite, 2 Shai Hope/Rajendra Chandrika, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Jermaine Blackwood, 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Jerome Taylor, 11 Devendra Bishoo.
Australia 1 Joe Burns, 2 David Warner, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Adam Voges, 5 Shaun Marsh, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Peter Nevill (wk), 8 James Pattinson, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Nathan Lyon. (ESPNcricinfo)
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