blacklightning
New Member
Re: Australia in the West Indies
Have the picked the XI already ? If so, Hodge is a bit stiff to miss out IMO.
Ljp86;219143 said:Second Test - West Indies vs Australia at North Sound, Antigua
The first test proved to be a lot better contest than what was anticipated with West Indies really taking it up to Australia for most of the game until a final day collapse saw them fall short by 95 runs, a margin which was bigger than what it should have been.
The first test saw the bowlers dominate with Stuart Clark, Brett Lee, Fidel Edwards, Daren Powell and Dwayne Bravo causing the batters all sorts of grief out in the middle. This ground, named the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, has never hosted a test although it did host a number of World Cup games last year so both teams go in unaware of what might happen during the course of this game.
West Indies will be boosted by their good performance and despite losing, they know that if they play well, they are capable of giving Australia a real challenge. West Indies' spinner, Amit Jaggernauth has been dropped which leaves Sulieman Benn as the only recognised spinner in the team. The Windies may even go into the second test without a spinner as Jerome Taylor looks to break back into the line-up and Chris Gayle's groin looks as if it will be okay to play. Xavier Marshall comes into the squad despite being in some very average form domestically, I'm not sure why he's been picked to play. If he and Gayle do play, Devon Smith may drop down the order which means either Darren Sammy or Runako Morton may miss out despite being two of the Windies best players in Kingston. Marshall's inclusion however remains a long-shot at best.
There's only once change for Australia, Michael Clarke comes in for Brad Hodge. Hodge again misses out despite playing reasonably well at number five. Simon Katich gets another crack at opening despite faling both times in the last test with the rest of the side taking their places as normal.
The first test at Kingston saw a real arm-wrestle for the ascendency before Australia prevailed on the last day of the test. This game too promises to be an engaging one after the West Indies took it up to Australia the first time around. Things are looking on the up for the Caribbean, can they go one better this time or will Australia prove to be too good once again?
West Indies XIV: *Chris Gayle, Brenton Parchment, Xavier Marshall, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Runako Morton, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Devon Smith, Dwayne Bravo, +Denesh Ramdin, Darren Sammy, Daren Powell, Sulieman Benn, Jerome Taylor, Fidel Edwards (3 to be omitted)
Australia XI: Phil Jaques, Simon Katich, *Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, +Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Stuart Clark, Stuart MacGill
Umpires: Russell Tifflin and Mark Benson
3rd Umpire: TBA
Weather:
(Farenheit in brackets)
Friday: Scattered Showers, 29 (85)
Saturday: Scattered Showers, 29 (85)
Sunday: Scattered Showers, 29 (85)
Monday: Scattered Showers, 29 (85)
Tuesday: Scattered Showers, 31 (87)
Betting:
TAB Sportsbet (www.tab.com.au)
Australia $1.45
Draw $4.00
West Indies $7.00
Game starts at 9:30am local time (2:30pm GMT).
Have the picked the XI already ? If so, Hodge is a bit stiff to miss out IMO.