The last time that occurred was in January 2000 when South African captain Hansie Cronje did a deal with his England counterpart Nasser Hussain for both teams to forfeit an innings in a bid to force a result in a rain-affected Test at Pretoria.
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Brathwaite’s pair of sixes and Pattinson’s superb swing were scant reward for the 14,266 fans that hung around as players scurried off and on the field throughout the first two sessions. “Siddle is still a little bit sore”.
All-rounder Holder must take his share of the blame for that but it would take a hard heart not to feel some sympathy for a man thrown into the Test captaincy at the age of 23 a year ago. “We were probably going to go the two spinners option anyway”.
“It’s up to every individual home country that hosts cricket to make their own decision about which is appropriate but whether the sun has gone down or not I think that’s largely irrelevant”, he said. “He’ll have a rest for a couple of weeks and hopefully get himself right for (February’s tour of) New Zealand”. The left-arm spinner was understandably excited about the opportunity to partner Nathan Lyon. For starters, they lost the toss and were asked to bowl first – hardly the ideal scenario after picking two spinners – then they met stiff resistance from Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo.
Allrounder Mitchell Marsh will provide the third seamer’s spot behind opening bowlers Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson in the Australia pace attack.
Only 86.2 overs have been bowled so far in the Test with the West Indies placed at 248 for 7. You can also watch the live telecast of Australia vs West Indies on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD (in English commentary).
Holder said the team was buoyant following their improved outing in the second match, when they showed more resistance than in the three-day defeat in Hobart.
Sutherland suggested the European Central Bank should not dismiss hosting day-night test matches just because the daylight hours were longer during the English summer. West Indies coach Phil Simmons suggested, “I used to hear about that in county cricket”.
“Spin will play a big role then we might get more overs in towards the back end of the match”.
Victory and a clean sweep for Australia would send them above India into second place in the test world rankings.
AUSTRALIA – *S Smith, D Warner, J Burns, U Khawaja, A Voges, M Marsh, +P Nevill, S O’Keefe, J Pattinson, J Hazlewood, N Lyon.
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Denesh Ramdin was due to resume on 30 not out for West Indies alongside Kemar Roach, who has yet to score, on Tuesday.
