Australia v West Indies, 2005-06
Australia v West Indies, 2005-06
Peter English
15-Apr-2006
The West Indian squad had what might have been a nice mix of experienced batting and youthful energy to face opponents who were also regrouping and rebuilding. But, despite both sides trying out new combinations and introducing fresh faces, the result was similar to the previous tour in 2000-01, with Australia winning all the Tests, by the comfortable margins of 379 runs, nine and seven wickets.
The series was cut from five matches to three because of diminishing
interest following the 5-0 result five years previously, and the change
produced accusations of disrespect from West Indies supporters. But when
Australia began with a four-day thrashing at Brisbane, and had their
opponents seemingly heading for an innings defeat at Hobart, there were
worries that even three fixtures were too many. However, the young
Trinidadians, Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, pushed the game into a
fifth day with a 182-run partnership.
Their team-mates caught the mood, and the Third Test was the most
competitive of the series, made even more memorable as Brian Lara became
Test cricket's highest run-scorer. Until his 226, Lara had stumbled through
two months in Australia - during the Super Series experiment and the first
two Tests, in which he received a couple of poor decisions (the West Indian
board complained to the ICC after the series about the standard of the
umpiring, and gained an admission that "errors were made"). But at the
Adelaide Oval, a ground he happily called the most beautiful in the world,
Lara shrugged off his 36 years and all the miseries of West Indian cricket,
to unveil a performance few geniuses would have bothered with. For 405
minutes his free-spirited strokeplay wrestled with gritty determination to
produce a memorable and courageous performance.
Lara began needing 214 to pass Allan Border's old mark, and he waited
until 11.22 a.m. on a cool second morning to shuffle across his stumps and
work Glenn McGrath to fine leg for his 11,175th Test run. Border was
watching his son's Under-10 match in Brisbane at the time and missed the
moment, but he felt that Lara was a worthy successor: "I would rank him
as one of the best three batsmen in the world. I have had the pleasure of
seeing him play a lot of cricket and there is no doubt he is a genuine genius."
It was an appropriate baton-change, as Border's grittiness had inspired
Lara ever since he watched him grind out undefeated innings of 98 and 100
at Port-of-Spain in 1983-84, against Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and
Wayne Daniel. "As a West Indian I wanted him to get out, but I admired
his fighting spirit and it was a tremendous effort," recalled Lara after claiming
the record. "He was an icon for me, and his spirit was in me from the first
day I played Test cricket. Thank you, AB."
As happened against England 19 months earlier, Lara's feat ensured that
the West Indians ended the series in an upbeat mood, despite the results.
The tour had also begun in a buoyant mood as Bennett King, the coach,
returned to his home state of Queensland for the First Test. The squad -
back to full strength after the messy sponsorship/contracts dispute was finally
resolved - had an average age of 26, the strike bowlers were young, fast
and keen, and the batting was propped up by Lara and the captain Shivnarine
Chanderpaul.
They were the only two tourists over 30, but both had experienced
demoralising losses to the Australians... and there were more on the way.
Chanderpaul struggled, scoring only 87 runs in the series at 14.50, and his
leadership also came under heavy pressure, especially when his bowlers
struggled for consistency, although they improved as a unit as the series
wore on. Injuries to key men were also a hindrance: Marlon Samuels, who sustained a knee problem at Hobart, and Chris Gayle, who needed
surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat, were both out of the squad by the
final Test.
Still, West Indies could look forward to the development of Bravo, a
22-year-old all-rounder who backed up his 113 in the Second Test with six
for 84 and a half-century in the Third, and the capable new wicketkeeperbatsman
Ramdin, only 20, who scored 171 runs at 34.20 and out-performed
Adam Gilchrist, whose 52 runs came at 17.33. "The young guys did a terrific
job and it was a big lift for us," said Chanderpaul. "I hope they don't relax
too much."
The Australian selection panel was jittery, still trying to cope with the
Ashes defeat even while the side merrily moved along as if it had never
happened. A clear-out that started in England, with the axing of Michael
Kasprowicz and Jason Gillespie, claimed Damien Martyn for the victory
over the World XI in October, and by the third West Indies Test the Ashes
middle order of Martyn, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich had all gone.
Nonetheless, the team for Adelaide worryingly included only one player
under 30 - Brett Lee, who was 29.
What the new additions lost in youthful vigour they made up for in desire
created by seasons on the sidelines waiting for an opening. Michael Hussey
earned his maiden Test cap 11 years after his firstclass
debut when his state team-mate Justin Langer
fractured a rib in a domestic limited-overs game,
and he put an edgy debut behind him with centuries
in consecutive matches to finish the series with a
Bradmanesque average of 120.33, which was
slightly worse than his one-day mark of 123.50 at the same time. Brad Hodge
made a bright entrance with 60 at Hobart, but the return of Andrew Symonds
was disappointing after he stepped in for the injured all-rounder Shane
Watson. However, Symonds's lack of input was easily covered by the team's
veteran core, while Lee won his battle to merge fire with a more consistent
line and length to claim 18 wickets at 20.94.
The recovery of Matthew Hayden, after he was on the verge of being
dropped in England, was remarkable: he peeled off centuries in the opening
two matches, giving him hundreds in four successive Tests. He narrowly
missed a fifth, ending with 87 not out, 445 runs and the series award. Ricky
Ponting made twin centuries at Brisbane, McGrath gave away runs as
reluctantly as a child parts with sweets, and Shane Warne felt so confident
that he reintroduced his flipper and wrong'uns.
Rare instability in the selection process was comfortably masked against
opponents far inferior to England, but Ponting did not feel the ease of the
series win was a concern. "If complacency crept into this team after what
a lot of the guys have been through in the last few months, I'd be very
disappointed," he said. The Australian side might have undergone significant
changes, but the heavy-handed results remained the same, and they retained
their record of not losing a home series since 1992-93 - the summer when
Lara first reached for the stars, with his superlative 277 at Sydney.
Peter English is the Australasian editor of Cricinfo