News Around The Traps

Sri Lanka have announced the agreed tour itinerary when the host Pakistan in June and July. As well as the customary hit and giggle games, their will be three Test matches which will be keenly contested as most games between sub-continent nations are. Tests will be played in Galle, Colombo and Pallekele (see Fixtures for details) between a home side whose decline has been slowed recently with Mahela Jayawardene returning to the captaincy and visitors who have been the form side of the last eighteen months.

Dav Whatmore - who's talking?

News from Pakistan is intriguing ... but then it almost always is. Chairman of selectors, Iqbal Qasim, has spoken to the media to assure them of no ill will existing between new coach Dav Whatmore and the selection panel. Such statements are usually an assurance that the opposite is true: just ask Geoff Lawson. Whatmore has been moving across Pakistan to look at player who might potentially play for Pakistan in the next twelve months and his discussions have included sessions in the nets with 37 year old Mohammad Yousef, formerly the master batsman of the side from the late 1990's until injured against England in 2010. It was Yousef who captained Pakistan on their controversial tour of Australia in 09/10 before Salman Butt got his greasy palms on the reigns for the England tour which followed. The Australian tour was a disaster but the only accusations which could be thrown at Yousef were his captaincy ineptitude and his failure to stay close to the youngsters in the team. He reputedly walked once he knew the extent of the match fixing and saw no reason to come back given what he had already achieved in the game.

The other note worthy former player Whatmore has worked with is Kamran Akmal, the former keeper who many believe is stained with the same dirty palms as Butt and the two youngsters he duped. The theory goes that Kamran was one of many who walked down the same dark road. How Pakistan could select him again is a mystery, especially as his replacement, brother Adnan, has done a splendid job. The breakdown in communication at the centre of the "lack of ill will" between Iqbal and Whamore may well be over Kamran Akmal. Pakistan have cleaned a lot of the cupboards in their administration of the game and have adopted a selection policy of promoting youngsters and keeping them clean. It has been the cornerstone of captain Misbah-ul-haq's approach, which has relied on on-field tactics of preserving wickets and playing Pakistan's strengths. The results can't be argued with. Given Younis Khan's statements in regard match and spot fixing, its hard to imagine him staying if Kamran Akmal returns nor Misbah, for that matter. Like Darren Sammy, Misbah is the lynch pin in the side.s progress forward.

The unresolved question is whether Whatmore or Iqbal consider Kamran Akmal worthy of a return.

Pakistan is an odd place though. Arch enemies one day can be fierce friends the next in a country which operates by expediency. In cricket, at least, that looked to be changing.

Perhaps not.

Is that good enough Skipper?

Michael Clarke was reported to have said in the wash up to the series win in the West Indies, that if Brad Haddin returns to the Test team, Matthew Wade would come under consideration as a batsman. Not quite. He never made such a statement as reported by Daniel Brettig (Cricinfo). In response to questions about Haddin returning, he declined to suggest that Haddin would be an automatic return to the Test side against South Africa in November. Instead, he emphasised that if Haddin had been available for selection for the first Test of the West Indies tour, he would have been selected. He further added that Wade had done everything asked of him on the tour and that he "plays spin as good as anyone". He pointed to Wade's batting record for Victoria and when asked if Wade would be considered for selection as a batsman alone, Clarke suggested if his form continued, there was no doubt he could be considered. He didn't, however, suggest that would be the scenario.

All of which is conjecture at best. Wade intervening appearances will all be in short form games and the current crop of selectors, Clarke especially, are likely to take much notice of these in consideration for the November show down. Even if Haddin was to peel of hundreds and take ten stumpings an innings in Shield games in the month before the First Test, Wade has just scored a Test century and is 24. It's Matthew Wade who will be keeping in England next year, not the man who is ten years older than him. To Haddin's great credit as a man, as a human being, he knew that when he returned from the West Indies to be with his family.

In choosing a touring side for England, the West Indies selectors have made several changes to the squad which recently was so competitive at home against Australia. Kraigg Brathwaite, Carlton Baugh and Davendra Bishoo are the major casulaties. Bishoo lost ground after being dropped following the First Test loss in Barbados and Shane Shillingford splendid form in the remaining Tests. Brathwaite and Baugh were given every chance but failed to score the runs that were needed. Brathwaite looks to be a player who will return but for Baugh, it could be his final appearance.

Dinesh Ramdin recalled

Dinesh Ramdin returns as wicketkeeper. He played his last Test almost two years ago against South Africa at Kensington and was dropped after indifferent form. Only twelve months earlier he hit a career best 166 at the same venue. He always looked a better player than his average of 22 and returns after hard work and lots of runs in domestic cricket. Marlon Samuels is back again, at 31 surely on his last chance. Samuels debuted back in 2000 and has played only 67 matches since and only one of them against England. Its a negative selection to turn back to a man who has promised much but delivered so little at Test level.
Its hard to believe, but some things are more important than cricket.

The two uncapped players in the squad are future oriented. Shannon Gabriel is a fast bowler from Trinidad and Tobago who has 63 wickets at 29 in first class cricket, including a timely 5-78 against Barbados at Port-O-Spain in the last first class match of the season. He has a handful of appearances for West Indies A and was one of the first intake of the new Sagicor High Performance Centre launched in 2010. Assad Fudadin is a left handed middle order batsman and handy medium pacer who has taken his time to rise to the senior team after playing in the West Indies U15 side in 2000 and then run scoring appearances for the U19 team in the 2004 World Cup. His domestic form has been excellent this season with two centuries and consistent run making.

Adrian Barath has been retained, despite having poorer returns than Brathwaite and his new opening partner will be Keiran Powell as Kirk Edwards returns at No 3 and is elevated to the role of Darren Sammy's deputy.

Clarke Seals Series Win

Australia wrapped up the final test in Dominica, winning by 75 runs on the just before lunch on fifth day but not before another bright cameo from Darren Sammy put just enough wobble in the victory. Michael Clarke bagged his second five wicket haul in Tests, bowling 23 overs.

Darren Sammy made an emphatic 61

Despite the new ball being taken, it was the dual spin of Clarke and Nathan Lyon who shared the five wickets which fell in the morning. Sammy had reconstructed his tail, rewarding Kemar Roach for his doggedness and promoting him to No 9, whilst dropping Shane Shillingford back to last man. Roach failed and Shillingford hit 6 fours in making 31 not out. Go Figure? It was Sammy who provided the fireworks, with a 41 ball half century which included two massive blows off Clarke: one over long on and the other miles over square leg. His first scoring shot went over the sight screen off Lyon. Often criticised for his irresponsibility with the bat, no one was complaining today after Narsingh Deonarine and Carlton Baugh were gone in the first thirteen overs. The man has one gear. On his day, he is the biggest, cleanest striker of a cricket ball in world cricket and despite his clangers in this series and against India last year, he still has the best hands in the side. His 9 catches in three Tests underlines that point. His bowling is handy, without pace or penetration but its his captaincy which should have him picked every time. The West Indies are slowly on the rise because of leadership and the willingness he and Otis Gibson have to stick with good young players until they mature into their roles.

Clarke & Lyon took eight of the wickets

Clarke got the first breakthrough at the end of the seventh over, after a protracted consultation between the on field umpires and followed by endless replays in order to determine whether Deonarine had returned a catch to the bowler or half volleyed it. Eventually, he was sent. Baugh got himself out, swiping at Lyon who was bowling a nagging length despite Sammy's onslaught. Baugh banged the ball seemingly over Ricky Ponting's head at mid wicket but the little champion held a very good mark. Roach, promoted to hold up an end with rain threatening, had a short stay thanks to a superb catch by Clarke at slip. Roach's edge just missed Matthew Wade's pads and Clarke dived a long way to his natural hand and held a cracker. Rampaul came and went in the next over, trying to emulate Sammy but hitting Clarke only as far as Dave Warner at mid on.

Shillingford and Sammy added 49 in what turned out to be the last 11 overs before Lyon, bowling with a new ball that the quicks only had their hands on for seven overs. Sammy aimed another big shot over the leg side, top edged and was caught by Ben Hilfenhaus at square leg.

It was a strange series in which Australia didn't dominate, yet won 2-0. The key was their ability to take opportunities and win the decisive sessions. Here, it was the last session of the 2nd day, when they lost five wickets after being 3-73 chasing Australia reasonable total of 328. From there, the match remained even. It was a similar story in each of the three Tests, with Australia winning a vital session which turned the match.

Chanderpaul was man of
the series

The other oddity was in the individual performances. The West Indies have been beaten despite having far and away the best batsman (Shiv Chanderpaul 346 runs @ 86) and the best bowler (Kemar Roach 19 wickets @ 19). The secret lies in the fact that all of the Australian top seven scored more than 150 runs for the series (fudging on Ponting who scored 146) and the Windies only had Darren Bravo. The West Indies also went without Kirk Edwards after the first Test, when he injured a knee and Fidel Edwards for the third Test.

Importantly, they were competitive and they are learning. Watch this space.

The West Indies squad for England was announced during the morning, with Kirk Edwards being elevated to vice captain ... a move which has future all over it. The side is: Darren Sammy (captain), Kirk Edwards (vice-captain), Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Fidel Edwards, Assad Fudadin, Shannon Gabriel, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford.


For the Australians, it completes a highly satisfactory first twelve months under Michael Clarke and big ticks in all the boxes. Every question asked has been answered. Even the 47 at Newlands last November has proved to be an important plank in the solid foundations Australia has laid in their own rebuilding.


Whilst players go off to pursue cricket in colours for the next five months, both for country and corporation, Baggy Green Tests take a spell until next summer.

Heroes and Heartbreak

Darren Bravo - how good will he be?

The fourth day at Roseau was a similar story as the rest of the series, as the West Indies came near but ended so far. There are parallels for this in Caribbean cricket, not the least being Clive Lloyd's side which was thumped by Australia in 1975-76 but grew into one of the best teams ever to play the game. This side has a long way to go but the signs are positive. The biggest of those signs stood out in neon today after Darren Bravo was dismissed. No smile and shuffle back to the pavilion to be met by high fives and comments of well done. He walked off, every step one of misery, pain etched on his face. Fifteen minutes later, cameras caught him in the dressing room, leaning ruefully against a door jam, still holding his head in hands.

It hurt. It should. The best of them hurt the worst. Brian Lara, for all his brilliance and ability to take the game away in a session, never hurt enough. If he had, he might have been better than Sobers, better than Tendulkar, better than that murderous little bloke who played for Australia.

Will Bravo be better than Lara? Time will tell but he has the same shot making flair and the same love of big scores ... and he hurts more when he makes mistakes.

Australia batted on for most of the morning session, captain Michael Clarke content to let the innings exhaust. Mike Hussey left early, Sammy getting his third catch, this time low at slip of Shane Shillingford. Mitchell Starc again showed he needs to bat one spot higher, with his second handy innings of the match, with a spattering of boundaries, including one way over long on off Shillingford. Harris played an up and under from an attempted sweep of Deonarine and was caught by Carlton Baugh. Ben Hilfenhaus has listened too much to Justin Langer and tried to play like a batsman and instead was Shillingford's tenth victim of the match, caught brilliantly at silly point by Kraigg Brathwaite. Nathan Lyon added 22 for the last wicket with Starc but Kemar Roach finished it with the second new ball, angling in at Starc from around the wicket and knocking over the castle.

370 was always going to ask questions the West Indies couldn't answer but they ha the advantage of batting on the pitch at its best. Still spinning, the bounce had become more even and less pronounced and the Australians would rely heavily on Michael Clarke's tactical acumen. Australia still bowls to a plan as they did in the days of John Buchanan, the architect of such an approach but its not something set in concrete any more. Clarke knows the modelling for each batsman and the manner in which consensus has determined to use each bowler but that's it. On the field, he modifies five or six or more plans according to his gut. In this, he follows in the footsteps of the best captains Australia has had - Benaud, Chappelli and Taylor - and stands apart from the years of stultified, rigid game plans which were followed regardless of circumstance by Ricky Ponting: a fine player, a leader by playing example but a lousy captain. His record reflects the weakness off opposition teams, the luck he had to have Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Langer and Hayden in the team he captained and not his tactical ability. Captaining from my lounge room, it was always a good bet to throw the ball to Warne and McGrath.

Powell bowled by Clarke for 24

Hilfenhaus picked up a bonus wicket when Adrian Barath flicked a full ball on leg stump behind square and on its way to the boundary before Ed Cowan took a brilliant diving catch. Hillfy is the man for such dismissals. Clarke didn't sit still for long, ringing the changes like a seasoned caller at a square dance. By the time he removed Brathwaite in the 16th over - his first - he was the fifth bowler used. Brathwaite tried to pull a ball that was too full and was given lbw to a ball that, even on review, was just shaving the bails. Too much in DRS technology for anyone to be confident that the opener was fairly dismissed without doubt. Apparently the convention that doubt saves the batsman has abandoned in the media calls for transparency and consistency. Humanity is no longer a factor.

Clarke struck again in his fifth over, walking boldly through the gate which Keiran Powell left wide open as he aimed an ambitious drive at a ball that was always going to turn into his stumps.

Shiv Chanderpaul joined a very determined Darren Bravo and by tea, they had stopped the floundering and had West Indies sailing again. They had raised their fifty partnership of 89 deliveries - extremely quick by the standards of this match and much of the series. Chanderpaul's scoring rate in his first 30 runs was hovering around sixty and the ground at Roseau were singing and dancing. Clarke had added Shane Watson and Dave Warner to the bowling list, seven having been tried inside the first 40 overs.

After tea, the batsmen set about the task of building a partnership to gain self-respect but in doing so, they gradually gained the respect of the opposition and even senior players in the commentary box. Chanderpaul played everything late and from well back inside his crease but he pushed firmly into gaps and refused to let the Australians dictate to him. His stroke play was so late that Geoff Lawson described it a almost posthumous. At the other end, Bravo played when he had to, picking off less runs that the more experienced Chanderpaul but if the Windsor Park pitch was a school, the youngster appeared to be paying the most attention to the lessons. Bowler after bowler, used in irritatingly short spells by Clarke, attacked in just the right spots. Bravo defended, occasionally eking singles, whilst Chanderpaul watched the ball until right under his eyes and then forced the ball away. It was a reversal of what might have been expected of them.

Chanderpaul out for a second fifty

With so much hard work done and a century partnership raised from the dust bowl of the West Indies innings, stumps would have bought its own reward, quite apart from the accolades of team mates. In the last twenty minutes, the cricket gods had their say and both were gone. Bravo played one of only two loose shots and was caught behind to a diving Matthew Wade off Watson. His anguish was palpable. Those who are ancient enough to remember the Michael Holding incident with Ian Chappell in Sydney in 1976 will have the picture from which Bravo's response could have been facsimiled. Chanderpaul was out as the last over started, plum to a Clarke delivery which turned into him viciously and would have taken middle. On the way, it just hit him in line. Chanderpaul had been given not out but his body language suggested otherwise. It was for just such howlers DRS was conceived.

The Australian performance was just as professional as anything in the past twelve months. How far they have come and what difference there is among the personnel? Clarke lead wonderfully well today, although the day will come when the constant bowling changes will backfire. Guys like Hilfenhaus and Harris need long spells to drop into a rhythm and strangle the scoring rate. Wade worries me. He's talented but erratic and his wicketkeeping isn't as good as Brad Haddin's, even though the former keeper had declined in his last twelve months. He dives too much. Steve Rixon would be reminding him that your feet do the majority of the work to get to the ball. Rod Marsh would make the same point. The best keepers have all been good divers but only on the impossible catches and after using their feet to get into position. Ian Healy was the best example of recent keepers. Wade also rises from his crouch too early. He follows the trend of modern keepers to use a helmet and in the main, it makes their skills diminish. Pre-2000, keepers had to sharpen their skills and back themselves on the tough tracks.

Then again, I'm no fan of helmets and shin pads for close in fielders, believing it gives them an unfair advantage. If you roll the dice in there, you should take your chances.

Not much left in this match now. The Windies will do well to get past lunch and the Australians will wrap up the series 2-0 and go to clear third on the ICC rankings.

West Indies Fighting

Chanderpaul made 68

The West Indies can take great heart in their performances in this series against a resurgent Australia. They will likely lose the series 2-0 but they have a new breed of young players which the selectors must be patient with and a captain who is an excellent man manager.

Shiv Chanderpaul batted for 90 minutes with the tail in the morning session, adding another 53 to the total. The last two wickets almost doubled the score. Ravi Rampaul was the first out when he lost his head and danced down the wicket to Nathan Lyon, intent on putting him over the long on boundary. Instead, he sliced the ball to Dave Warner at point. Kemar Roach helped Chanderpaul add another 32 before the the new ball ended it. Starc took out Chanderpaul with a corker which moved away in the air and then cut back into his pads.

Australia started their second innings with a lead of 110. Given that the bowlers had added 159 for the last three Australian wickets, it would be fair to say that it was about time the batsmen did some work. The opening partnership could last four overs until lunch when Warner went Phil Hughes style, slashing at a ball that should have been left three ball before lunch. Chanderpaul took the catch at third slip. It was the wicket which shared the first session between the two sides.

Cowan & Ponting both made fifties

West Indies started with the two spinners after lunch and Watson did stay long. After Cowan had been dropped, Watson attempted to glide the ball off his pads from Shillingford and instead played it straight from the face of the bat to Darren Sammy at leg slip. It was a sharp catch. Ricky Ponting joined Cowan with the media again baying during this series but it reality, he has batted better than most of the Australians, on difficult wickets. He has been the subject of a string of odd dismissals. Playing well forward when he had to, he spent most of the time on the back foot, hitting firmly through the on side to negate the leg side trap which Shane Shillingford was operating to. Cowan found the going a little easier, as the ball was spinning away from him and not threatening his stumps and he also hit firmly. West Indies threw everything at them and Shillingford bowled unchanged again. As well as he bowled, he often bowled the wrong line, getting to close to leg stump and being distracted off his good length by the Australia tactics. At the other end, Rampaul and Roach were impressive.

By tea, Australia had again established their authority at 2-94.

The last session was full of effort from both sides. Cowan and Ponting raised half centuries, for both of them their highest scores of the series. Narsingh Deonarine fooled Cowan into cutting a ball that was too full and angling in at him rather than going away and Darren Sammy held a remarkable chest high catch at first slip that came from more face than edge of Cowan's bat. Sammy takes so many screamers but manages to drop sitters. Perhaps he needs instinct to be present to be sure in his hands? Clarke came in and re-affirmed the Australian policy of hitting hard to leg and sent successive deliveries to the head and then shin of Adrian Barath at short leg. Such is the nature of body protection in the modern game that he remained uninjured. Imagine the further nuisance Sid Barnes might have been at short leg with helmet and shin pads.

Ponting and Clarke added 56 before Roach returned to remove Ponting. It was another in the sequence of strange dismissals that Ponting has been victim to in this series. Today, he dived under a Roach bouncer but only to periscope depth and was caught of the back of the raised vertical bat above his head. It was like watching Doug Walters against John Snow in 1970-71 ... am I that old? Ponting has been bowled and caught off inside edges, been Watson latest run out victim, caught from a ricochet of the keeper's pads and caught by the only man in the deep off the only attacking shot in a needed defensive innings. Through it all, he has looked in good form but before today, had less than 100 runs in five digs in the series. A funny game ... you bet!

Anyone seen my dummy?

Clarke was out three runs later, attempting to pull Shillingford into the outfield but hitting it straight up in the air instead. Matthew Wade added 25 with Hussey but with stumps a few overs away, was lbw to Deonarine. Missing two consecutive full tosses, the second won hit his right boot and the umpire, technology and the naked eye of almost everyone with a TV monitor agreed it was out. Wade's ill-tempered walk from the field should earn him a rebuke from the match referee and rightly so. It was an unnecessary reaction.

Australia have enough to win but will bat on. Time and weather are not factors and their opponents have a poor second innings record.

Cricket being cricket though, nothing is ever certain. If Bravo blisters and Chanderpaul stays, it would take only two of the rest to bat reasonably ... improbable I know, but would it hurt?

Session Count: West Indies 3, Australia 4, Drawn 2

It's Just Not Cricket? You Bloody Bet It Is.

Thanks to ABC Grandstand for this special piece.

Australia Turn Up To Play

Wade made 106

It all got away from the West Indies on the second day of the final Test against Australia at Roseau. Having restricted the Australians so successfully on the first day, they surrendered before unfriendly fire from Matthew Wade and his tail end buddies and then collapsed in the final session.

Wade began the day with just 22 from 72 deliveries. He was dropped by Roach before he had added to his overnight score as he returned the ball to him over his head and at pace and then three balls later saw Mitchell Starc run out out needlessly at the lazy completion of a second run. At 8-226, Australia was vulnerable but from there on, the real Matthew Wade stood up. In a manner reminiscent Adam Gilchrist but in style like a left handed Michael Slater, Wade took the rest of his runs at better than run a ball, strike 10 fours and 3 sixes, mostly over the bowler and down through and across cow corner. A four through the covers raised his century just before lunch and then a two a few balls later raised the hundred partnership with Ben Hilfenhaus. He was caught on the boundary of Shillingford who ended the innings a few balls later when he bowled Hilfenhaus. Shillingford took six but the horse had bolted.

Lyon took 3-49 off 24 overs

The West Indies faced an over before lunch and despite losing Brathwaite to a juggled catch at first slip by the born-again alrounder Ryan Harris, Adrain Barath and Kieron Powell batted confidently adding 61 for the second wicket. Powell gave a very difficult chance to Ponting at short cover but there mere fact he got a hand to it marked the brilliance of his effort. A tempered Barath looked to be setting himself for a long haul, something he has found difficult to do in the past as he has always be impetuous. Nathan Lyon ended their partnership when Barath tried to turn him to leg and went bat/pad to Ed Cowan at short leg. Michael Clarke pulled off one of his bowling change miracles, bring Dave Warner on in the last half hour if the session to bowl four overs of what Michael Holding described as "drivel". Drivel it was but coming forward to one of only three balls that landed properly in four overs, Darren Bravo also found the inside edge and left via Cowan.

If the two wickets close to tea hurt the West Indies, the removal of Powell by Lyon soon after crippled them. Powell went back to cut a shorter delivery but instead chopped it on. The next seventeen overs were a procession as the West Indies lost another four wickets to a mixture of misfortune and the Australian bowlers being rotated past the bowling crease. Narsingh Deonarine (Harris), Carlton Baugh (Lyon) and Shane Shillingford (Starc) all left via the bowlers and Darren Sammy was run out by a direct throw from Cowan following a sharp single called for by Shiv Chanderpaul. Cowan's three catches and a run out should earn him bonus points in the dressing room and a pat on the back from Steve Rixon.

Ravi Rampaul - probably good enough to bat at No 8 in this team, joined with Chanderpaul to add 45 unbeaten by stumps and in doing so avoided a follow on it is likely Clarke would never had enforced. In the last half hour we saw a rare weakness in Clarke's captaincy. There is a time for the unconventional, such as Warner's earlier bowling but was needed as stumps approached was a hard spell from Harris and Hilfenhaus to shake the last few wickets from the West Indians. Instead, he experimented with Warner again and himself. as a man with a back injury, he should never bowl.

Regardless, the Australian's came with the A Game today and showed the difference between the sides. It has been a difference that has simmered all series, with Clarke's men able to turn up the heat whenever things got cold in the kitchen.

For Matthew Wade, it marks a significant turning point. Regardless of his captains thoughts, perhaps delivered to assuage whatever trouble has beset his former vice captain back at home, Wade's century secures his hold on the spot Brad Haddin once held. Being a Test player is about skill and ability but its largely about being bold and seizing the moment. Today was such a moment for Wade.
Session Count: West Indies 2, Australia 3, Drawn 1

West Indies On Top

Shillingford 34-8-77-4

Australia has finished the first day of the Third Test at the Windsor Ground in Roseau in poor position, despite the batsmen spending time at the crease and the 8th wicket pair adding 43 in an hour before the close. The West Indies bowlers dominated, especially off spinner Shane Shillingford, who bowled unchanged but for a change of ends from the 20th over until stumps.

Australia won the toss and batted, omitting Michael Beer who was replaced by Ryan Harris as pace was considered to be more important on this dead looking pitch. Mitchell Starc won his fourth Test in place of the injured James Pattinson, who is already under physiotherapists hands back home.

Ed Cowan was out without playing a shot in the second over to Ravi Rampaul, always a foolish practice on the first morning with a new ball coming at you.

Shane Watson and Dave Warner added the day's best stand of 83 for the second wicket but not without plenty of incident. Warner, playing without regard to the conditions, shouldn't have got past 5 when Darren Sammy dropped yet another sitter at third slip from Rampaul in the 8th over. He continued to play risky shots, attempting sweeps from Shillingford when he came on that were full of the threat of dismissal. The pair made it to lunch with no further loss but it was slow, hard work. Watson was dropped in close by Adrian Barath from Shillingford after lunch and lasted only another half hour before Sammy removed him at the end of a long spell when he dropped short and Watson sent a free hit to Narsingh Deonarine at mid wicket. After such hard work, it was a waste. When drinks were taken with Ponting at the wicket, 15 runs had been added in the hour in as many overs. Three overs later, Warner hit a ball straight to cover point where Kieran Powell held a simple catch.

Sammy catches Hussey

Ponting and Michael Clarke combined to add 31 until tea and both looked comfortable. After tea, Shillingford's control was eating away at the Australians. He turns an off break sharply but strangely, rarely bowls an arm ball and has a doosra too green to be used more than once of twice in an innings. His great advantage is something Nathan Lyon can never obtain unless they bring back the rack. Shillingford is tall, very tall and when he hits a length, the ball has more bounce than normal. This played out as Ponting, Clarke and Michael Hussey all played forward looking to put the ball on the blade but found it a foot higher than they expected and all gloved catches around the wicket. Ryan Harris, fresh from his half century at Port-o-Spain and elevated to No 8, was bounced out by Kemar Roach, gloving again as he attempted a hook, a shot tail enders should never play. 3-142 had slumped to 7-169.

Mitchell Starc is a much better bat than most in the tail but his next hour was a succession of lofted drives down the wicket off Shillingford and for the rest of the time, he had less idea than the average liberal back bencher. Matthew Wade took up Warner's challenge and swept at Shillingford, almost exclusively unsuccessfully but handled the faster men reasonably well, although Rampaul bowled a good spell at him with the old ball. The pair will take up the fight in the morning against a fresh Roach and a hungry Rampaul before Shillingford swings in behind them in search of the first five wicket haul of his short career. He has already become the first Dominican to play Test cricket on his home ground.

Absence

Peter is currently having a few days away from the world, camping among the extinct volcanoes of the Warrumbungles.

Rain Ruins 4th Day

Less than a third of the allocated overs were able to be bowled on the fourth day of the second Test at the famous Queens Park Oval in Port-o-Spain as rain twice stopped play. The second interruption, at 1:30pm local time, proven terminal, with Australia having built a lead of 127 thanks to large slices of luck in their second innings.

Michael Beer took just four balls to end the West Indies first innings at 257 when he trapped Carlton Baugh in front. He survived the initial on-field appeal but the third umpire reversed the decision. The DRS process took as long as Beer had to bowl his partial over.

Ponting had a good share of luck

Fidel Edwards began with a maiden to Ed Cowan and off spinner Shane Shillingford conceded  one run to Dave Warner off the second over. The Australians, intent on building their lead were cautious on a wicket that had been difficult to score on since the first day and was now much harder to survive on. Cowan had a life when Darren Sammy dropped a sitter at slip off Edwards. Its obvious that media pressure is building on the captain. Normally a splendid fieldsman, he has dropped a succession of easy catches in this series and despite his team building expertise, his own performances have been poor in the Test matches and questions are now being asked by former players. This is largely what's wrong with West Indian cricket, a lack of patience by former players who have run through management positions themselves and left and enjoy the hallowed life of former champions and the rights they assume it gives them to white ant any progress. For an apparently laid back, casual loose federation of nations which breeds hedonism, this lack of patience is staggering. Get behind de mun! Advise, don't criticise. Dean Jones Syndrome is alive and well in the Caribbean.

Watson gets "poled" by Roach

Edwards bowled five good overs before giving way to Kemar Roach. It took the lively quick just a handful of deliveries to have Australia reeling, removing Warner caught by Darren Bravo at slip and then knocking Shane Watson's off stump out of the ground with his fifth. The Australian vice captain had aimed a monster drive at his first delivery and went close to inside edging and was completely done by the third. At 2-27 with Ponting coming to the wicket needing a score on a wicket far removed from his favourite surface, Australia were shaky. After surviving a tight over from Shillingford, Cowan went close to running Ponting out in Roach's next over. He pushed to mid off Edwards who swooped and threw at the batsman's end where a despairing Ponting had given up. Had Baugh been able to get to the stumps in time, Ponting's run of ill luck would have continued. An over later, Ponting pushed at Shillingford and was dropped at short leg by Adrian Barath. Six more overs were negotiated before the rain set in and the players didn't return until after lunch.

There was more trouble in the second over after lunch when Cowan dropped a ball from Shillingford to square leg. Ponting called and set off immediately on a short single that was his call. The opener hesitated and would have been run out at the bowlers end if wicketkeeper Baugh's throw had been true. Cowan finally went when Roach cut out the middle men and trapped him in front of middle and off. The Australians pointlessly used a review to prove what was obvious.

Play only lasted another six overs until the rain swept in again and blanketed the ground for the remainder of the day but not before more dramas as Ponting had another close call running between the wickets. He drove Shillingford slowly to Shiv Chanderpaul who was deepish at mid on and then appeared to saunter the single. Chanderpaul's throw hit the stumps and with Ponting moving casually and not sliding his bat, replays showed his foot landed astride the crease in the nick of time.

In between close calls, Ponting looked secure against the spin of Shillingford, who opened the bowling and was unchanged when the rain came. An on drive just before play ended was vintage Ponting.

Rain will decide the Test

Given the lack of runs scored in four days owing to pitch and atmospheric conditions, its hard to see a result on the last day but then, that was the forecast in Barbados. A lead of 200 would be enough but even if the weather was good enough - which looks unlikely - it would take all of the first session to raise that lead. In Australia's favour is the freshness of the bowlers who have hardly been taxed in their work so far in this Test. The pitch will be at its most deadly tomorrow, with spin and pace capable of triggering collapse. Kemar Roach proven that today. The West Indies first seven batted with grit in the first innings but the Australians can be like a mob of fleas on a wet dog when even a scent of victory floats across an oval.

Clarke's adventurous captaincy will play a large hand, especially as he is at the wicket when play resumes.

The weather, unfortunately, will decide it.

The Middle Stump

An England-based blog worth looking at ... The Middle Stump

A Lyon's Share

On a day when the West Indies were the better side for the first two and a half sessions of three, Australia still finished on top. Toil, adherence to lines and lengths which honoured the pitch rather than complained about it and clever captaincy, saw the day end with Australia in charge after three days.

It was a pity for Shiv Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine and to a lesser extent, Darren Bravo and Carlton Baugh, because they all competed hard to bring their side back on par against a relentless opponent. This Australian side under Clarke has become a ruthless unit, able to adapt to conditions and changes in match fortunes and never beaten until the last raise of the umpire's finger. So it proved today.

Chanderpaul made 94

An early start because of persistent showers on the first two days was delayed by twenty minutes when a power outage downed everything at the Queens Park Oval. Under direct pressure from Australia not to play until power was restored as the DRS would be out, the ICC, through their match officials, also came under pressure from the TV networks. Australia's concern should have been ignored as ICC protocols make provision for DRS not being available but the networks apparently held sway. However it fell, there was no play until the lights came on in the grandstands. Any attempt to make up time was further negated by rain after lunch and more overs were lost than gained. Bravo and Chanderpaul added 51 in 75 minutes to their brief overnight partnership. James Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Lyon were all punished for wayward deliveries. Lyon should have sent back Chanderpaul, an edge ricocheting from Matthew Wade's pads to Michael Clarke at slip but he couldn't hold it. With drinks looming, the Skipper, perhaps in atonement, pulled out one of those rabbits that all of the best captains have up their sleeve. For no apparent reason and with Shane Watson still waiting to bowl, he threw the ball instead to Mike Hussey who took four deliveries to trap Bravo in front with a pearler which pitched on leg. Hussey hasn't bowled such a ball in his career and won't again. Chanderpaul and his new partner Deonarine added a slow 32 in the next 75 minutes to lunch. The session belong to the West Indies.

Only 15 overs were possible in the second session but they belonged completely to the West Indians. They added 56 at nearly four an over, an unseen rate in this series. Chanderpaul was particularly severe on Pattinson, taking three fours of his eight ball seventh over and the big quick was soon shuffled back to the outfield. Clarke kept ringing the changes - a hallmark of his leadership in the field - including one over from Warner which was rubbish that Deonarine took out, sending him into the crowd at mid wicket. With things slightly unravelled and the lead falling into the low 100's, rain provided a saving grace for Clarke and a chance to regroup.

After half an hour of the last session, Clarke took the new ball. Pattinson was still bowling the wrong length and Billy McDermott was removing the last red threads from his hair. Hilfenhaus was taken to by Deonarine, who raised his half century. It was the sort of batting Ottis Gibson has been calling on from a man whose talent has underperformed in Tests, usually owing to rash strokes at inappropriate times. Watson replaced Pattinson and Lyon replaced Hilfenhaus, the new ball pair bowling only six overs between them.

All hell broke loose.

In the next hour, Lyon took five wickets and the West Indies were like an Arrowroot biscuit left too long in a hot cup of tea. They lost 5-19 to a combination of good bowling, bad batting and ordinary umpiring.

Deonarine went first, lunging forward at a lovely looping off break which swerved in and spun away, to give Wade the easiest stumping of his career. In Lyon's next over, he claimed Chanderpaul with a corker of a variation, an arm ball which zeroed in on off and middle when the dour left hander had expected it to bite and turn away. Chandepaul's 94 was his fifth in the nervous nineties but with 25 hundreds in 237 innings, his conversion rate is far better than most. That ugly stance is largely a habit, as he moves straight into line as the ball is bowled. Habits tend to stay and become exaggerated when players are successful. Ask Viv Richards why he twirled the bat and stamped the handle end onto the palm of his left hand. As Morne Morkel why he always stops two metres short of his marker, checks his field, turns to face the crowd and then walks a few steps towards them before wheeling on his mark and turning to bowl. Chanderpaul's front foot used to face midwicket but he needs more luck as he has aged and now the habit faces square leg.

Nathan Lyon took 5-16
off his last nine overs

Lyon ran through them. That batting sword Darren Sammy lives by killed him again, with a dreadfully unnecessary heave straight to Hussey at long on. Such things look far worse when you are the captain and although you can mount the argument that its how the man plays, leaders must be prepared to change. Shane Shillingford was out to a Jim Laker special, Lyon turning in, taking the inside edge and finding the safe hands of Ed Cowan at short leg. Kemar Roach can feel aggrieved however. He was given out, caught by Wade down the leg side, when neither Roach nor the Aussie keeper had any idea what the appeal was about. Without hotspot, its hard to be sure but old style slow motion replays weren't convincingly in support of the umpire's view. The batsmen had exhausted the DRS appeals, so the bowlers had to take their medicine.

In the end, the West Indies might have been happy if told the end of day score last night at stumps but disappointed to have collapsed so fully against the same bowlers who had appeared tame only minutes early.  James Pattinson had left the field during the collapse, injuring his lower back trying to pull off an impossible stoop, twist and throw when there was no need. If he is unable to bowl in the second innings, its hard to assess which team would be the most disadvantaged. He's a good bowler but his bowling has taken on too much of the bully boy and not enough adherence to that which made him a brilliant success in the summer which has so recently waned. A quiet word Mr Siddle, please. Mr Harris, not a word.

Clarke will be ecstatic. Nathan Lyon reaped just rewards but more importantly, Australia displayed that attribute of all the great sides: they flood through a breeched bank and inundate their opposition.

This match is not over yet but its hard to see the West Indies being capable of chasing even a meagre target on the last day.

Tragics Session Count: West Indies 3, Australia 6, Drawn 0

Wicket Is The Winner

Hussey made 73

In a day which lost 90 minutes to showers, batting became more difficult and a result more certain but the way forward may have been exposed by Mike Hussey and Darren Bravo.

Hussey and Matthew Wade began after a dour day on a dead pitch. Wade left in the second over, bamboozled by some Kemar Roach magic. After the previous ball bent past the inside edge and shaved the off stump, Roach sent one the other way and Wade's outside edge flew to Bravo at first slip. Rain came twice before lunch as James Pattinson and Hussey added 59 before. Pattinson combined a long stride forward with some luck and complete abstinence from any shot making. His first fifty deliveries contained only one boundary. At the other end, Hussey was his trademark busy self, milking runs from a tight attack.

More rain after lunch slowed things again and by drinks Australia was still only six down as they closed in on 300. However Hussey and Pattinson left in consecutive overs to the spinners Narsingh Deonarine and Shane Shillingford and as predicted here on thecricketragics, the house of cards which is the Australian tail was blown over by Roach who finished with five.

In the context of the state of the wicket, 311 may well prove to be an enormous target and the contributions of Hussey, Shane Watson and Michael Clarke masterpieces.

Michael Beer opened
the bowling in his
second Test

Clarke put his selections where his bowlers were and both his spinners - the real ones, not including Warner or Ponting - had started spells inside the first ten overs. Beer took the new ball with Hilfenhaus and Pattinson was left to second change. Hilfenhaus removed Kraigg Brathwaite in his second over with no runs on the board, the first of three lbw decisions. Beer got Barath, after review, with the cleverest of left hand orthodox tricks. Bowling around the wicket, he got prodigious, quick spin from Barath's middle stump to a first slip line one ball and then sent one back into his pads from outside off with the next. Pattinson cannoned his first delivery in the match onto Kieron Powell's pads and had his claims upheld. Powell left meekly, without reference to Bravo at the bowler's end. Even to the naked eye the ball looked to have pitched outside leg stump and so replays proved. DRS would have saved him but no one thought to ask.

Bravo, who really does bear a remarkable batting resemblance to Brian Lara, played several brave but clever shots down the ground to Beer and Lyon, who have both already had two spells in the 25 overs Australia has bowled. Pattinson and Hilfenhaus will be at best support cast, especially if Pattinson continues to bowl short. After getting a wicket by pitching up, he spent most of the rest of his short spell wasting the ball in his half.

The pitch looks deadly. Its keeping low and spinning sharply and Matthew Wade will be the hardest working Australian over the next few days. He was already diving this way and that and perhaps Steve Rixon should remind him he has feet.

Whatever happened to fast, bouncy Caribbean wickets?

Tragics Session Count: West Indies 1, Australia 5, Drawn 0

Horses For Courses or Opening The Stable Door

Ryan Harris - hero to zero

Selection of Australian Test sides was supposed to become more rational under the new management system devised by committee and approved by public acclaim but serious question must again be raised after the first day of the second Test against the West Indies.

Australia won the toss and batted after Michael Clarke handed a team sheet to Darren Sammy which didn't have the names of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle on it. On a low, slow pitch in Trinidad which Michael Holding described in commentary as needing a headstone, the selection of Michael Beer as a second spinner to Nathan Lyon was logical. Even if a gamble, the Australians hold a 1-0 advantage with two to play so any experiment is fair enough. One experiment though, not two.

Siddle, it was announced, had been rested owing to a stiff back. Never giving the appearance of a prima donna, the Victorian is the least likely cricketer in the world to be stopped by some muscle stiffness but it gave Beer's selection more gravitas. The staggering omission was Harris. Four days ago in Barbados he was named Man of the Match in a remarkable comeback win by Australia. Admittedly it was his 68 not out at No 9 which attracted the attention but his second innings bowling was as deadly and as quick as his best work, in a chequered and injury prone short career in the Baggy Green. Baring disciplinary action, the besting of Harris by James Pattinson in the intervening four days is not only impossible to believe but also a blow to the confidence of the big journeyman of Australian cricket. He played his guts out but still got dropped.

Meanwhile, Ben Hilfenhaus is counting lucky stars.

If the dropping of Harris by Mickey Arthur, Michael Clarke and duty selector Rod Marsh is bad enough at a personal level, it gets worse when applied to the team. Harris' tight line on a dead pitch stands in contrast to Pattinson's uneven temperament and love of the bouncer, a delivery he over applies when under pressure. The first Test example of Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach trying to bounce the Australian tail and losing a match in the process is all the lesson Pattinson needs to learn. With only two quicks in the side, Australia can ill afford one of them losing the plot.

Michael Beer returns

Beer is an honest trundler and will do the job required of him on a pitch which will suit him. His is the Derek Underwood legacy which always keeps left arm Greek orthodox bowlers in demand, especially on slow, low pitches. His inclusion should mean that Dave Warner's long hops are relegated back to the nets.

The more pressing issue for Clarke should be what to do with the tail. Beer, Hilfenhaus and Lyon are all No 11's. Hilfy and and Gazza would still get the job in St Pats U/12's. Pattinson will bat above his weight at 8 but has shown the technique to manage there but an Australian tail which was already weak, now looks disabled. You can talk all you like about the miracle of Barbados but any cricket supporter who thinks more about the game than the last Test, will not expect encore performances, especially since the conductor has been left in the warm up room.

For their part, the West Indies were forced to drop Kirk Edwards (knee) for Kieron Powell. Powell is a good player but he is no competitor like Edwards. Shane Shillingford was preferred to Davendra Bishoo - an offie for a legie. For Shillingford, it was reward for a long battle to overcome a suspect action which had him removed from Tests by the ICC just as his career at the top level started.

It was a long and difficult day for the Australian batsmen on a pitch that redefined lifeless. Warner and Ed Cowan made a positive start, both unafraid of shot making. Their opening partnership of 53 could have amounted to nothing if a first over decision had been upheld. Edwards last ball swung in at Warner, struck him on the front pad in front off off stump and flew to Carlton Baugh behind the stumps. A big appeal saw Warner given out by umpire Erasmus but Sammy withdrew the appeal indicating the ball didn't carry to Baugh. Replays showed there was no bat in it and Warner was plumb! The reinstated chucker, Shane Shillingford, got Warner in his first over, Sammy shelling peas at first slip. Cowan and Shane Watson took 10 overs to add 12 runs before the opener was DRSed on one of those half ball hitting the stumps umpire's calls. If the technology still raises questions then the rules over their use certainly should.

Ponting edged, dropped, caught, out

Ricky Ponting was thoughtful over a handful of runs, ever mindful of Watson's indecisions at the other end. Perhaps the English system of the senior pro making the calls should be instituted for the pair. Luckily there were no tears today, no need for hara-kiri by media after play. Ponting, always the team man, was out in manner usual. Squaring up and moving across his crease, he made a Roach delivery appear as though it was a cobra striking at his throat and edged to Baugh, who rebounded to Sammy. Ponting stayed a while, hoping for a no ball or an umpiring failure to a dismissal which was so slow it was already the replay ... or maybe a TARDIS in which to go back five years. In an alternate reality - the one the rest of the world lives in - this was no cobra, rather a man who believes we all conspire against him. There are no cobras to be found on a pitch so placid that it should be in hippy commune, smoking dope in the 1960's.

Clarke's entrance changed the game and the day's best partnership was the 84 he added with Watson. It was hard work taking runs of this deck and as he has done since taking the captaincy, he led with his bat. There were drives early from Roach but then Edwards kept him quiet for a long time. In the second session, Australia added only 58 from 29 overs, a vast difference from the five an over days of the summer against India. After tea, Clarke put the foot down, determined to change the pace and took fine drives and cuts, again of Roach. Clarke likes to reverse the long spoken of policy of OohAhh McGath and attack the lead bowler. His footwork to the spinners was assured but just as the game was getting interesting, he flogged a long hop from Narsingh Deonarine down Shillingford's throat at deep square leg. The banged bat and dropped head spoke enough of his passion for the few doubters who doggedly want to still attack him.

Shane Shillingford

At the other end, Watson gathered a slow half century. He was always alerted to punish the quicker men and Roach paid a high price for ill direction or half lengths but the spinners worried him. Prone throughout his career to wanting to flog all spin over long on, he seemed tempered today, as if more poor judgements were not wanted. As a result, he spent most of his innings, when facing Shillingford or Deonarine, not quite forward and not quite back. In the end, he launched forward at Deonarine and got some inside wood onto his pad for Adrian Barath to take a high, sharp catch at short leg. Its not easy to keep the faith at short leg when the batsman comes down the wicket or the bat rises to pull.

Mike Hussey and Matt Wade, batting ahead of a tail that is so long its an epic, saw things through safely until stumps but 3-167 an hour earlier with Clarke on fire looked a lot better than the closing score.

Tragics Session Count: West Indies 0, Australia 3, Drawn 0

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Australia Wins 1st Test

Sammy kicked down his stumps

It was fitting that Ben Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris were at the crease as Australia posted another marvellous victory in their campaign to recapture the past by securing an even better future. After conceding more than 400 hundred in a drab West Indies first innings, it was the bowlers who bought Australia back into the match and finally pushed them over the line for a three wicket victory in the gloom at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

The West Indies folded in the first session, doubling their score and losing five wickets but setting Australia a target well less than ODI pace of 192 off 64 overs. Harris took two of the five wickets and the other quicker men took one each. Only Kemar Roach lasted any length of time as the hosts surrendered their advantage in a meek batting performance before Harris bowled him in the same way he had Narsingh Deonarine lbw, with a vicious off cutter. Darren Sammy was out in bizarre fashion, playing with soft hands to drop the ball at his feet and as the ball ran back to the stumps, his attempted kick sent it cannoning into the stumps. It adds to the back catalogue of Shane Watson dismissals that only the big blond can conjure. He may be unlucky in injury, reckless in running but he picks up wickets with luck that should be shared around rather than concentrated in one player.

Roach had no luck

The Australians set out at a constant three an over, pacing themselves within the limits of the available overs and respectful of a wicket that was playing at two heights. Dave Warner and Ed Cowan saw off Fidel Edwards opening fire works, only for Darren Sammy to remove Warner, caught behind when he tried to play a one day run shot to third man. Watson joined Cowan in a partnership of 75 which would set up the win but not before they barely survived a blistering attack from Roach and Sammy. For a period of six overs, both men were under the pump. Watson survived several very close lbw appeals from Roach and a caught behind decision which umpire Ian Gould correctly called as a flick off the batting pad. Before they had added a run, Cowan was dropped at the wicket when Carlton Baugh standing up to Sammy couldn't do the impossible. Standing up to quick men, they either stick or they don't. Watson was dropped in the next over when the best hands in the side, Sammy, dropped him at gully of the rampant Roach.

Prosperous in luck, they survived and got Australia to three figures as the Australia innings was purring to victory still early in the last session. The match took a sudden, painful turn for Australia when the part-time off spinner Deonarine tore through the top half of the batting order, removing Watson, Cowan, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke in a five over spell. Matt Wade and Michael Hussey added 37, before and after a rain interruption which had the Australians nervous enough that Hussey set his foot firmly on the accelerator. Both were out to Roach as the target shrank: Wade cutting to Bishoo in the deep and Hussey bowled by one that came back at him from outside off stump, but Harris and Ben Hilfenhaus, both batting above Peter Siddle, managed the final three required as the light faded and the umpires held discussions. A perverse ICC ruling passed down to umpires was narrowly avoided.

Hilfenhaus & Harris celebrate the win

It was yet another remarkable victory in which Clarke drew on reserves from his men which have been placed there through twelve months of Test match experiences which have convinced this group of players that anything is possible. It's an approach that reminds the players that even in the depths of their greatest disaster - the capitulation against South Africa at Newlands last November - Nathan Lyon could top score. That sort of positivism goes in the psychological bank account and can be drawn on when it counts.

It counted today.

For the West Indies, Sammy must ensure that this isn't seen only from the angle of defeat. Darren Bravo came back with better form here and the returning Kirk Edwards and Shiv Chanderpaul all stiffened the batting line up. His bowlers did their job for large parts of this match. The issue of indifferent batting in the second innings and the over use of bouncers at the Australian tail are the areas which need addressing. The burning issue, however, is for the West Indies Board to answer. How Sunil Narine was in India after bamboozling the Australians in the ODI and T20 matches is a matter of grave concern. Cricketers must always be available to represent their nation or nations. No private contract should, in any circumstances, outweigh the priority of international cricket responsibilities. Deonarine's four second innings wickets are the knife to drive into the lack of guts of the WICB, as he is at best a part-timer in the Andrew Symonds mode. Three wickets short of a victory screams of the ineptitude of not playing the bowler who even Mike Hussey said publicly was concerning the Australians.

Ryan Harris was named MOTM for his five wickets and heroic first innings 68 not out in a match which had many heroes but few stand out performances. Three more wickets might have given the award to Shiv Chanderpaul.

The second Test begins in Port of Spain on Sunday.

Australia Produce The Goods

Harris reaches his first
Test half century

It's never safe to make calls about results during Test matches or to write off teams on the ascendancy and the Australians have proved it yet again during the fourth day in Barbados.

Starting the day well behind, things only got worse during the first hour as Michael Hussey, Peter Siddle and Matthew Wade all fell to the new ball. Fidel Edwards stuck twice after a barrage of bouncers, leaving Australia  8-285 and a long way behind. Then a strange thing happened when the same hitman tactics from the West Indian quicks were delivered at 9, 10 and Jack. Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus and Nathan Lyon stood up to the bully boy tactics and then blossomed into shot making; so much so that Australia's last three scored more than their first three. I have commented recently that the Australian tail was largely inept, based on the placement of Ben Hilfenhaus above Lyon in the batting order. Anyone who bats below the hairy Tasmanian can't be called a batsman. Regardless of predictions, the last two wickets added 121 and the tenth was unbroken. Harris and Lyon made their highest Test scores and Hilfenhaus played his same merry array of slogs but still lasted an hour.

That's more like it:
Hilfenhaus bowled by Roach

In defence of prognostications as to the quality of the last three, can any reader honestly boast that they could confidently predict Harris might make a half century or Lyon 40 or Hilfenhaus bat for an hour?

Michael Clarke applied the captaincy genius, declaring behind in order to harness the exuberance of the bowlers and turn it into an attack on the West Indian top order in the session and bit left in the fourth day. In five overs before tea, Hilfenhaus reduced the Windies to 3-4 in fourteen deliveries, with Adrian Barath, Kraigg Brathwate and Kirk Edwards all marched with balls up to the bat - a lesson perhaps for their bowling team mates. In the half hour after tea, Harris found Shiv Chanderpaul's edge and Wade held a tough low catch. The West Indies were 4-17 and led by only 60.

Hilfenhaus bowls Barath

Darren Bravo and Narsingh Deonarine settled in to retrieve the situation with batting more in keeping with the improvement in West Indian cricket under Darren Sammy. Clarke was superb during this last session, swinging his bowlers around ends and backing them will aggressive fields set for full bowling. They eked out 50 when the going was at it's toughest before Siddle tempted Bravo into a drive that wasn't there and his two and a half hour vigil came to a sudden and undeserved end. Siddle again! How often does he take only one or two wickets but always the crucial ones. Bravo left three overs from stumps and was furious with himself: a good sign in a young player, especially one from these parts where failure is all too often shrugged away.

Chanderpaul edges to Wade

Carlton Baugh saw time out with Deonarine, himself batting heroically in consideration of his previous lack of application in Tests. His innings is closing in on a hundred balls for only twenty but so far, its been priceless.

The margin is 117 with the all or nothing boys to follow. A lead of 200 at lunch might be enough to make it interesting but only if the West Indies keep the ball up. Despite his figures, Bishoo will be the danger.

An interesting day lies in wait for those of us who think we have all the answers.

West Indies: Another Good Day In The Office

Shiv Chanderpaul
brings up his 25th Century

It hasn't all gone according to plan for Australia during this Calypso tour. After thrashing India, squaring with South Africa and beating Sri Lanka on their home turf, the jaunt to Caribbean may well have been seen as a just reward before the Test players take a well earned break. For those keeping up, we won't mention New Zealand.

Not only did the ODI and T20 series get pear shaped but the first Test at Barbados is going bad on them with every day's play. 

On Saturday, they dropped three catches and couldn't bowl a line which made the West Indies play. 

On Sunday, the dropped or missed more catches and the West Indies tail danced a maypole around Shiv Chanderpaul whilst adding 133. The little left hander with the world's worst stance raised his fifth century against Australia - all in the Caribbean - and his 25th in Tests. Incredibly, all but five of them have been in the first innings of Tests. The much vaunted pace attack, aided and abetted by Lyon, Clarke, Hussey and even the wayward long hops of Dave Warner, couldn't blow the Windies house down and Darren Sammy took great satisfaction in declaring nine down. Warner's long hops earned him his first two Test scalps - twice as many as his first class tally. Peter Siddle was the best of the bowlers but again had meagre rewards. Warner made a ballistic start to the Aussie innings.

Ponting left a very unhappy chappy

On Monday, Australia lost three wickets in 14 overs. Cowan and then Warner fell to edges off Sammy and Ricky Ponting got the et tu Watto treatment from the new No 3. After taking one to short backward square, Watson initially called Ponting back for the second, dithered and then decided to stay at the bowler's end, leaving Ponting an impossible return to the safety of the crease. One wonder what was sacrificed in the dressing room in order to sate the little man's anger. Watson added 49 with Michael Clarke until lunch and one wonders what was said over sandwiches because two balls after the break he played the sort of shot would earn an U/10 a kick up the backside. He took one of Armstrong's giant leaps, wafted aimlessly way outside the off stump and was caught behind.

Clarke and Michael Hussey crawled to tea, adding only 67 runs in a session of 28 overs. Rain and bad light robbed the crowd of a full afternoon, with Clarke the only other wicket to fall. Frustrated at the pace of the batting after raising a slow half century, he jumped down the track to leg spinner Devendra Bishoo and skied a simple catch to Narsingh Deonarine at deep long off. With enough slow scoring and wickets wasted already on this day, Hussey and debutante Matthew Wade saw out time until bad light finished it. There's is the partnership which will either ensure the draw of provide the West Indies with a incentive to power onward because the Australia tail doesn't inspire confidence.

Clarke scored 73

There is no doubt the West Indies were greatly assisted by wickets gifted to them with a generosity unlike this Australian side with its burgeoning reputation for steely backs in a crisis. All five wickets need not have been lost if better judgment had been applied. Despite this, credit must go to the West Indies faster men, who kept the Australians pinned down and to Bishoo, who tempted and taunted the batsmen with significant turn and excellent variation. He's not as accurate as Warne was but then, who is. The real question mark must hang over the respect Deonarine attracted. His 18 overs of innocuous off spin cost just 33 and its hard to conjure an excuse as to why he was allowed to be so frugal.

Clarke has much to do to get his side back on task. They are playing like holiday makers in loud shirts, happy to spend up big and not attend to the details. This Test is gone in terms of a positive result but they must quickly recoup or the game could slide to the West Indies. In the end, they just need to bat better, bowl better and field better ... apart from that, they're perfect.

Slow Days Journey Into Rain

Matthew Wade receives his
Baggy Green from Ricky Ponting

The West Indies, so often the collapso calypsos since the last of their greats left the wicket from the last time, showed again at Kensington Oval, Barbados, a new resolve under coach Otis Gibson. Winning the toss against Michael Clarke's resurgent Australians, they batted without any semblance of aggression, preferring to keep letting the little red missile go past or at best sending it back up the pitch.

For the West Indies, the normal counterpoint of this approach, Adrian Barath, was back at the top of the order and Narsigh Deonarine into the team to bat at 6 after nearly two years in the wilderness. There was no Sunil Narine, prevented from being selected by the West Indies Board allowing him to be contracted to the IPL. Leg Spinner Davendra Bishoo played in his stead. Australia chose their side almost entirely as expected, with the top six intact and Matthew Wade making his debut in place of the self-deposed Brad Haddin. The only slight surprise was the selection of Ryan Harris ahead of the wunderkind of last summer, James Patterson.

After winning the toss and batting, West Indies crawled to 60 by lunch, losing only Barath to a piece of dumb cricket. Harris came around the wicket to the compulsive hooker, with two men back behind square for the catch. First ball was a bouncer and Barath put it down Peter Siddle's throat. The Australian's bowled well but needed to make the batsmen play more often.

After lunch, Kirk Edwards provided the only bright light of the day, driving sumptuously down the ground and looking full of runs. At the other end, Kraigg Brathwaite did more than drop anchor. He tethered himself so effectively to the crease that it appeared only a terrorist attack might shift him. The Australians didn't help themselves during the second session, Ponting dropping a sharp chance from Brathwaite off Watson in the slips and Watson dropping an absolute clanger at second slip from Kirk Edwards off Siddle. Those chances followed Siddle's spill off his own bowling when Brathwaite returned him a catch early in the first session.

The pair were finally parted in the half hour before tea after adding 104 for the second wicket, when Michael Clarke used the Easter prerogative and found yet another hat to pull a rabbit from. He bought Dave Warner on to bowl leggies, despite there being only one wicket in his first class record. In his third over, with Edwards sporting saucer plate eyes at being at the wicket when such juicy fruits were being sent down, he bowled a long hop, short and wide and Edwards chased it but managed to send it back to the bowler who held a good catch.

The look of Day 1 - Kraigg Brathwaite

2-159 at tea barely crawled at a run an over after, until Siddle returned. Back with all the energy of a roomful of hyperactive eight year olds, he removed Brathwaite with his first ball of the spell. His 57 had taken more than four and a half hours, occupied 199 deliveries and all of his four boundaries came behind the line of the stumps, mostly from edges. Despite those comments, he served a purpose.

Drinks were taken with Darren Bravo and Shiv Chanderpaul at the crease and then the rain came down and didn't stop.

West Indies have made a tidy start but the middle order needs to go on with the job and at a stronger clip. The Australian's, in return, were below their best in the field, dropping catches and looking out of sorts. As he was during the summer, Peter Siddle was the stand out but all of the bowlers could have done more to make the batsmen play.

An hour lost will be made up across ensuing days. There is still much to happen in this Test, including the battle between a much improved West Indies attack and powerful Australian batting lineup which is yet to prove itself on this tour. Roach, Edwards, Sammy and Bishoo represents as good an attack as West Indies can field. Ravi Rampaul, recovered but left in the wings, is still the best of them but his place is being taken by Darren Sammy and the West Indies can ill afford to be without his leadership. He shapes as their best skipper since Clive Lloyd, moving his men to things they thought beyond them.