West Indies captain Jason Holder knows his team has some work to do if they are to be competitive in the test series v Australia.
Advertisement
HOBART, Australia-Darren Bravo is on the verge of a century leading a courageous fight-back against Australia who inflicted more misery on West Indies on the second day of their first Test yesterday. For all his inherent talent and his experience of 15 years of worldwide career, his Test future demands urgent consideration; his first innings nine followed scores of 11, 0, 13 and 6 in the two matches in Sri Lanka.
West Indies produced a typically inept batting display to crash to an embarrassing innings and 212-run defeat to Australia inside three days at the Bellerive Oval here Saturday.
“I haven’t retired from the game”.
The retirement of Mitchell Johnson and long-term injuries to Mitchell Starc (foot/ankle) and Pat Cummins (back) have forced selectors to rethink Australia’s Test attack.
Hazlewood (4-45) took the lead as the hosts wrapped up West Indies’ innings with only 16 runs added to their overnight tally of 207-6 on a chilly morning in Tasmania.
Holder dropped his guard somewhat with the forlorn figure he cut as he trudged slowly off the field after being dismissed in the Windies’ whirlwind second innings.
He is expected to be fit for the Boxing Day Test.
What is significant about the looming stint of Gayle and his West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo is that both will be available for the entire season.
By the time the scoreboard had ticked over to 24 runs, Pattinson, bowling with pace and aggression, had sent the first four West Indies batsmen back to the pavilion.
“There’s still quite a bIt of time before Boxing Day starts so the last thing you want is to try and rush Uz to be fit for the first game of the Big Bash and a chance of increasing the risk of getting injured”, Watson said.
“It’s a situation we’ve been in for the past few months, the past few years, really”, Holder said.
For the second time in the day, an Australian bowler began a new over on a hat-trick – but Brathwaite pushed Pattinson calmly into the off side for a single. “At one stage we were down six overs and that was due to the fact the ball just kept going around the park”, Holder further explained.
Advertisement
“Therefore, we at the administrative level must find ways and means of dealing with the problem of players choosing to play for club rather than country”.
