West Indies face moment of truth

West Indies face moment of truth
REUTERS

BRISBANE NOVEMBER 22: The once mighty West Indies are clinging to the hope their current crop of players can draw inspiration from past heroes to save themselves from defeat in the first cricket Test against Australia starting Thursday.

Hopelessly out of form and facing an Australian team as good as any they produced themselves when they dominated the sport in the 1970s and 1980s, West Indies are hoping to turn back the clock when the first of five tests gets under way at the Gabba on Thursday.

It’s a daunting challenge, not least because West Indies have not won a series away from home in four years.

Australia are also attempting to equal the world record of 11 successive test match wins set by Clive Lloyd’s West Indians between 1983 and 1985.

But Jimmy Adams, who replaced Brian Lara as West Indies Captain nine months ago, believes his young team can spring an upset. Playing Australia in Australia is the toughest challenge in world cricket but we’ve come here prepared to win,’’ Adams said. ’’We’re pretty confident, this is test cricket and this is what it’s all about,’’ he told reporters on Wednesday.

West Indies are in terrible form going into the series.They were beaten 3-1 by England this year and lost their two first-class matches since arriving inAustralia. They have been bowled out for less than 200 in three of their four first-class innings on tour and their bowlers, with the exception of Courtney Walsh, have failed to threaten.

But Adams is hoping a chance meeting with some of WestIndies greatest names could be the catalyst for changing his team’s fortunes.

This week’s first test coincides with the 40th anniversary of the famous tied test, played between Australia and West Indies at the Gabba, and the surviving members of both those teams have been invited back to commemorate that game.

Like the current team, the West Indies team of 1960-61 were given no chance of challenging Australia but ended up contesting one of the most exciting series of all time, before losing 2-1.

The Teams
West Indies: Sherwin Campbell, Darren Ganga, Brian Lara, Shivarine Chanderpaul, Jimmy Adams (captain), Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Courtney Walsh.

Australia: Steve Waugh (Captain), Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee, Andrew Bichel, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath, Damien Martyn (12th man).