The first Test of the two-match Test series between Australia and the West Indies has turned out to be an engrossing affair at the iconic Adelaide Oval. At Stumps on Day 2, the West Indies find themselves 22 runs adrift of Australia’s first-innings lead, with just four wickets in the bank.
On Day 2, debutant Shamar Joseph continued to impress, as he bagged a five-for. However, Australia managed to take a decisive 95-run first innings lead thanks to a sparkling 119-run knock off 134 balls from Travis Head. The West Indies batters succumbed to the relentless pressure exerted on them by the experienced Australian pacers in the second innings, as Josh Hazlewood starred with four-for.
West Indies head coach Andre Coley was pleased with the intent shown by the batters but felt that the shot-making was questionable on some occasions. Some of the West Indies batters got out while trying to play release shots.
“The learning curve has been pretty steep for some of them. But if they were to sit back and some of the feedback has been, it hasn’t been tremendously difficult. It has been testing. I think the challenge has pretty much been the consistency of the bowlers, obviously a wealth of experience in that Australian bowling attack, so their ability to stay patient, and there were times our batters played quite well,” Coley was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“Our intent to score has always been evident but that has to be matched with decision-making here and with a lot more bounce potentially, the ability to leave the ball more consistently has to be part of your repertoire and your approach. Generally, I thought that our intent was pretty good. Our decision-making was questionable on occasions,” he added.
Originally, the plan to Head was pretty much go short at him upfront: Andre Coley
Coley defended the West Indies bowlers’ ploy to bowl short at Head when he arrived at the crease. Five out of Australia’s top seven batters were dismissed nicking behind to fuller-length deliveries. However, they diverted from that plan when Head came to the crease and Coley explained that it was part of their plan.
“Originally, the plan to Head was pretty much go short at him upfront, and then plan B was pretty much a comeback into him, shut him down, which we did most of the time. But by the time he was set, the bowlers jaded. But I thought we stuck to the plans as best as we could, and generally, that worked well,” Coley said.
Joseph has been the star of the show for West Indies in the first Test thus far. Coley said that the youngster delivered exactly what they were expecting of him after his impressive exploits in the West Indies A tour of South Africa A.
“What you see is what you get. We took him to South Africa earlier. We knew he was inexperienced, but he had pace. He had a natural ability to work to a plan and be consistent with discipline around it. And he’s done that. On the back of that A tour he was fantastic. He got the most wickets on that tour and he showed what he’s capable of in his first Test match,” Coley mentioned.
The 49-year-old reckoned that the young players getting to play against top teams like Australia will only help them improve. However, he expressed his concerns over the lack of red-ball fixtures for the West Indies in the near future. He felt that it would be difficult to motivate players to play Test cricket as there are so many options with the number of cash-rich franchise leagues around the world.
“The challenge really is the number of Tests that we do play. Generally, outside of a Test series against England, we generally play two-Test match series. And then if you look at how our schedule is set up over the next two years, in some instances Test series is six months apart. There’s not a lot in between. So it’s really about us trying to fill the gap in some instances where we can, maybe with other bilateral tours or potentially looking to fit in A team tours that could help to improve that exposure or increase the exposure that the players have,” Coley said.
“Our situation is that financially we aren’t secure enough to be able to offer substantial central contracts and that is always going to be a challenge for us. And what we have tried to do in the last maybe six or 12 months is really have more conversations with the players to be able to work out windows where we can have our best players available. But I believe this is something that is widespread already and will become more of a challenge. But more so for countries who potentially aren’t financially viable and don’t play a lot of Test cricket,” he added.