Island Vibes Magazine

Sir Frank Worrell Preview

Posted on 06. Nov, 2009 by admin in Sports

Hurting Australia begin favorites against full-strength West Indies

By Suneer Chowdhary

It is not often that one could have said this about West Indies cricket in the most recent decade, but things have begun to look brighter than usual. Almost like the sun peeping out of the clouds and allowing play to commence after been hit by a storm, Trinidad and Tobago’s performance in the Champions League T20, which had followed the successful resolution of the impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), can only augur well for the entire region. Especially with the very-important Sir Frank Worrell Trophy against Australia looming large…

It is easy to blur the success in a domestic T20 tournament – albeit against stars of international quality – with a hard, grueling test match series against a side which had till recently been the best in the business and by a distant margin at that. In fact, former West Indies great Brian Lara has had no hesitation in touting the Aussies as favorites and predicting a ‘hiding’ for the tourists. And he has a couple of valid reasons behind this call – the West Indies, who have not played together for more than four months now, will be plying their trade against a side which has lost the Ashes and will be under pressure to get back to their invincible ways.

Yet, the cause for optimism is not unfounded. For starters, there will be some form of cricket being played and the top notch West Indies side will be a part of it, after a substantial eon. In that hiatus when the main side was out of competitive cricket, there were some exciting names that were thrown around – David Bernard, Gavin Tonge, Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard are only some of them. However, the most pleasant turnaround, and if one may call it, a positive that has come out of the stand-off, has been the eagerness exhibited by the ‘former’ West Indian captain, Chris Gayle, in regaining his place in the side as the captain. This, after he had earlier made no bones about his intention to step down from the captaincy, if it interfered with his T20 career, or something to that intent.

With Daren Ganga back into the fold as a captain-material – and why not, given the accolades he received from every quarter for his near Imran Khan-like leadership qualities during the Champions League T20 – it will be a difficult choice for the West Indies selectors, but it does not hurt to have choices. Especially not if the relationship between their only previous choice of captain and the board has been factious, to say the least.

The Aussies, on the other hand, will be hurting. More so Ricky Ponting, after having become the first ever Australian captain to go down in two consecutive away Ashes series for decades. While the crushing, near-whitewash of England in the ODI series that followed, or the appellation of having become the first ever side to have retained the Champions Trophy would have acted as a temporary balm, Ponting’s retirement from the T20Is gives a clear insight into his thought process; test cricket is still at the pinnacle of his cricketing pecking order. To him, as to the entire side, nothing short of a test series whitewash would do.

That said, Ponting will understand that the task at hand will not be as easy as it was when he had the likes of Mathew Hayden, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist to conjure up the runs and Shane Warne and Glen McGrath to scalp the opposition at will. The manner in which West Indies fought in the previous edition of Sir Frank Worrell trophy and refused to be overawed by the visitors’ reputation should serve as a timely reminder to Ponting to not to expect any freebies, from a side which should be as win-hungry as it could get in recent times. Or at least one hopes so.

There is a reasonable probability that Michael Clarke will be fit to represent his side in the series, as will Brad Haddin. This will be add the solidity to the middle-order, which seems so missing for now in any of the formats of the game. Michael Hussey’s return to form in the fifty overs format should augur well for the side, and the confidence should rub off in the longer version as well. On the other hand, Ponting – the batsman – has utilized the break that was afforded to him after the Ashes, and raked up the runs on return. He will be the biggest thorn in the West Indian flesh and a prize scalp at that.

With Brett Lee having injured himself in the current series against India and almost certain to miss out, Mitchell Johnson not full fit with his ankle issues and a mediocre spinner to boot, the Aussie bowling is not as menacing as it could get. If one or more of the West Indian batsmen could get stuck into the opposition bowling, things could get much more interesting for the tourists – as has been on display even in the ODI series in India.

My prediction for the series is for two wins for Australia and an outside chance of West Indies pulling one back.

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Suneer Chowdhary is a cricket journalist who is based in Mumbai, India and be contacted at suneerchowdhary@gmail.com.

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