West Indies slumped to 6-207 at stumps on a sodden opening day of the SCG Test, with rain nearly rankling Australia more than the opposition.
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That position, and the likelihood of a turning wicket at the SCG, have encouraged Australia to test out the twin spin option of Nathan Lyon and Stephen O’Keefe ahead of their tour of Sri Lanka later this year.
Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo gave the West Indies a solid start after winning the toss in the third Test against Australia in Sydney on Sunday.
Simmons reiterated his desire to have the strongest XI possible playing for the West Indies.
All-rounder Carlos Brathwaite, in his second Test, was unbeaten on 35, scored at a run a ball, and was partnered by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin on 23.
Rain is expected to impact play in Sydney again on day three.
Bravo twice drove pacer James Pattinson for exquisite off-side boundaries in the 11th over before pulling the same bowler through mid-on for another four, in his next over.
“One side is telling me there is showers again in the morning and now I’ve just heard there may be showers in the afternoon too, so we’ve just got to see what happens tomorrow, then we go from there”.
“There is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel with the players and I think you can mention Kraigg and Carlos Brathwaite because they have got runs”, said Simmons.
Brathwaite wasted little time after lunch in reaching his half-century, off 50 balls, with a cut for four off Pattinson.
Speaking with Nine’s Yvonne Sampson, the lively group played the tune so familiar to the channel’s cricket broadcast, before calling for the second day of the Sydney Test to become the official Richie Benaud day.
The rest of the match is set to have rain, at least in short bursts, every day, and the Windies will hope this will aid them in avoiding a series whitewash.
O’Keefe, 31, made one Test appearance against Pakistan in Dubai over a year ago, claiming four wickets in a 221-run loss.
“There are always different variables that come into play and we’ve got plenty to deal with as we consider the programming for 2016-17”.
“The wicket looks dry so I think it’ll take some spin”, he said. Play will begin 30 minutes early on second day.
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“This is the first one at Richie’s home ground since he passed away so we wanted to make this the best we could in terms of honouring him”, group founder Michael Hennessy said “This will be the most we’ve ever had”.
