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Day 1: Waugh lets West Indies off the hook

By Peter Deeley in Port-of-Spain

RUMOURS of the demise of Caribbean cricket may yet be highly exaggerated if West Indies can maintain the highly disciplined approach which flummoxed Australia on the opening day of this Test series yesterday.

Courtney Walsh led the way with spells of controlled aggression which took him within one of becoming only the third man in the game's history after Kapil Dev (434) and Richard Hadlee (431) to reach 400 wickets.

The Jamaican had only just returned from New York where a specialist examined the knee injury which caused him to break down in the final Test of the recent South African series.

But the most heartening aspect of the day was the mental application of a side who had virtually been written off - even by their own supporters - before the start.

West Indies went in with their usual battery of four fast bowlers, usually the recipe for a burgeoning extras total, yet it took more than three hours for the first no-ball to come along.

West Indies manager Clive Lloyd observed before the start that his players were ``being thrown to the lions'' and the mood throughout the islands was sombre and fearful after the recent catalogue of mishaps in South Africa.

In the event it was Australia, the undisputed top-dogs of the game these days, who played the role of the nervous Christians in this particular den after their new captain Steve Waugh appeared to have misjudged the situation by choosing to bat first. The psychological pressure on Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, and his largely untried top-order was there to be exploited if Waugh had put them in.

Instead, with the wicket slow and low and the wet outfield holding up every shot, West Indies wisely dispensed with the bouncer war, keeping the ball well up to the batsmen and inviting them to drive at their peril.

An indication of West Indies' commitment to new blood was the fact that it was the first time they fielded three debutants in a single game in more than 20 years.

One, Barbadian left-armer Pedro Collins, made the first breakthrough in his fourth over when Michael Slater unwisely swung at a ball passing down leg and hoisted it to deep fine leg.

Slater, as always, was willing to attack but after that we had the rare sight of Australian batting totally on the back foot in every sense.

This was Matthew Elliott's first Test in a year. Upon him was the enormous burden of stepping into Mark Taylor's shoes and the pressure was evident from the moment in Walsh's first over when the left-hander drove uppishly just out of the bowler's grasp.

But, belying his 36 years in his 107th Test, Walsh went round the wicket to Justin Langer and instantly the change of angle paid dividends, Langer edging low to Ridley Jacobs.

The attack begrudged every run. It took Elliott 25 balls to move his score along and at lunch Curtly Ambrose, who had consistently beaten the opener's bat, had conceded only 10 runs in nine overs. Walsh was almost as mean - 11 off eight.

Mark Waugh went in the third over after lunch when Walsh brought one back to hit him on the back pad. Elliott, however, seemed immovable and immobile - scoring only 37 runs in the first two sessions. But his role as anchor man became even more important when Steve Waugh was deceived by Mervyn Dillon's late away movement and Jacobs took another low catch.

Day 2: Ambrose takes turn to strike

Peter Roebuck in Trinidad

Tight cricket continued on the second morning of the first Test in a packed and vibrant Queen's Park ground.

Neither team have given much away. Playing under a new captain, the Australians batted with the utmost diligence and their recalled players, Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett, led the way. Attempting to recover their advantage, the West Indians bowled an unfailing line and length on a sluggish pitch. It was a gripping struggle between a team determined to protect their position and opponents whose worst days may be over.

Inevitably, the old stagers played big parts in the West Indian fightback. Already, the indefatigable Courtney Walsh had taken his 400th wicket, whereupon he thrust his hands into the air with joy. Then Curtly Ambrose took his turn. Deprived of fortune on the opening day, he repeatedly beat the bat, only to take his first wicket with his worst delivery as Shane Warne cut to point. This wicket ended an important partnership and also Warne's most serious innings for ages. No further wickets fell in the opening hour as Blewett played forward and confirmed his temperament and capabilities against pace.

Meanwhile, Brian Lara shuffled his field. He has been alert and has consulted his bowlers regularly. Perhaps the penny has dropped. Returning from South Africa in disarray, if not disgrace, he sought counsel from a religious elder and also worked with Rudi Webster, the renowned psychologist. He had wanted the status but not the responsibilities of captaincy, and he copied Viv Richards' style by standing haughtily at slip, chewing gum and waiting for things to happen.

Not for the first time, drinks brought a breakthrough as Blewett lost his bearings, whereupon Stuart MacGill was uprooted in a manner familiar to England supporters. At last, Ambrose's perseverance was rewarded. Unperturbed, Australia's lanky last-wicket pair survived till lunch and added 37 runs, Jason Gillespie playing commendably straight and Glenn McGrath belying his reputation as a bunny.

Nevertheless, the West Indians had performed impressively. Hardly a bumper was bowled and only four no-balls were recorded in 116 overs. Ridley Jacobs kept wicket neatly. It took the selectors much too long to recognise his talents. The support bowling was respectable with Mervyn Dillon applying himself intelligently and Pedro Collins bowling some lively left-armers. Of course, the outfield was dreadfully slow and permitted only 10 boundaries in eight and a quarter hours. Still, the West Indians were a far cry from the despondent mob seen last winter.

It is too early to talk of a revival. Batting has been the problem. Most locals were cautious, saying they would ``like to see the boys bat before we say too much''. Naturally, they were hoping that Lara, on his home patch, could score ``all the runs he has in the bank''.

As might be expected from the land of Learie Constantine, Trinidad has been seething with cricket conversation, analysis and criticism. But the West Indians have always been hard to beat on their own patch. Moreover, ignominy and a sense of their own mortality may have brought them to their senses, helped by the strong support at this prettiest of grounds.

Day 3: Lara's dismissal highlights the flaws of TV replays

Peter Deeley in Port of Spain

Brian Lara could be forgiven for ruefully reflecting on the inadequacies of the present third-umpire television replay system as Australia built what threatens to be a match-winning lead in this opening Test.

The dismissal of the West Indies captain on the second day triggered a collapse that ended with the sixth ball yesterday when Glenn McGrath knocked back Mervyn Dillon's off stump.

It gave McGrath his 12th five-wicket haul but, more significantly, the huge ability hole in the home side's batting was illustrated by the fact that their last seven men departed for the addition of 18 runs in 12.3 overs.

Almost as startling was the removal of the final five wickets in 19 balls for four runs - and those were byes.

This has been the all-too-familiar picture of West Indies' debacles in recent times and there was no mistaking the depressing message sent out by the body language when they took the field again. The shoulders of Curtly Ambrose were so slumped that his fingers almost brushed the ground. Courtney Walsh, too, had little of the bounce you would expect from a man who has just taken his 400th wicket.

Yet Walsh did make an early breakthrough when Matthew Elliott played a witless slash at a wide ball going further and was picked up at second slip.

Justin Langer, too, paid the price for once too often attacking the moving ball against Mervyn Dillon but this brought together the third-wicket pair of Michael Slater and Mark Waugh and, despite two short rain breaks, they took Australia's lead to 228 going into the final session.

Slater - unaccountably excluded from Australia's World Cup party boosted his Test average to close on 50 as he passed his half-century and Waugh was almost contemptuous in his punishment of Jimmy Adams, whose slow left-arm now looks very occasional.

Yet it might all have been so different and what may yet become the defining moment in this series after the West Indies' show of new-found spirit on the first day came with Lara's run-out.

The television replay showed him out of his crease when Langer at short leg smothered the ball and threw it back to Ian Healy. But it was never clear whether Langer's throw was direct or if Healy had the ball in his grasp when the stumps were broken.

This was the second time in the day when the quality of the replay film on which third umpire Clyde Cumberbatch was asked to make crucial judgments was found to be wanting.

On the verge of lunch Dave Joseph, who reached 50 on his Test debut, chanced a second run and it seemed fairly certain he had not beaten the throw from the deep. He was lucky to get the green light.

The only side-on film available for the umpire comes from a television camera high in one of the stands and not in a position to give precise line calls.

I understand the match officials themselves are not too happy with the quality of help offered by this camera and that referee Raman Subba Row could make this a feature of his report after the series to the International Cricket Council.

Match referees have in the past pointed out that crucial decisions have to be made on the basis of less-than-satisfactory footage. Cost is clearly an issue and South Africa have sponsors to help pay for their side-on cameras.

But the moment is fast approaching when the ICC must take responsibility for installing and running the equipment themselves, perhaps generating the finance by sharing the film with television.

Day 4: West Indies in turmoil after humiliating rout

Peter Deeley in Port of Spain

A disgruntled Trinidadian, uttering that Caribbean metaphor for eating humble pie, summed up the feelings in this region after the most humiliating day in West Indies' modern cricketing history when he said: ``Once we could beat the world, man. Now it's time to suck salt.''

They were bowled out for 51 in 19.1 overs by the Australians here yesterday, their lowest Test innings score. So on his debut as captain, Steve Waugh's side won the first game by 312 runs with more than a 1.5 days to spare.

Despite being heckled by some spectators, Brian Lara expressed a determination to carry on. ``I'm doing my best to cope. `` But then he added ominously: ``I don't want to go on like this for the rest of my career.''

The measure of West Indies' batting problems can be gauged by the fact that their last 15 wickets in this game went down for 55 runs.

Only wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs reached double figures yesterday and the nine overthrows the Australians gave away in the field effectively made that figure the second-highest scorer.

West Indies have now lost 10 of their last 15 Tests and this defeat follows the 5-0 drubbing in South Africa. They set off at 10.56a m on the improbable task of scoring 364 to win. Precisely onehour later, when heavy rains came, they were 16 for five and I am not sure whether the players or the crowd were the more stunned.

Australia's tail were quickly cleaned up at the start with the new ball. Courtney Walsh claimed two more wickets to take his total to 404 - 30 short of Kapil Dev's record - and Curtly Ambrose moved on to 355 when he removed Jason Gillespie.

West Indies had reached only three in the eighth over when Sherwin Campbell pushed flat-footed at Gillespie and Mark Waugh took the catch down by his ankle at second slip.

Four overthrows relieved the tension but in the next over, the ninth, the umpires changed the ball and the replacement seemed almost to be imbued with the spirit of obeah, the Caribbean black magic.

The first delivery with it from Glenn McGrath, who took five for 28 and finished with 10 for 78 in the match, it reared up and Dave Joseph gloved low to slip. Lara came in determined to exorcise the demon and pulled his first ball magnificently through midwicket for three.

The ball stopped on the brink of the boundary, where water from a swimming pool placed by sponsors for the convenience of sun-bathing patrons had made the grass a swamp. That piece of idiocy proved fatal for Lara. When he faced the first ball of the next over from Gillespie, who recorded figures of four for 18, the West Indies captain edged into Mark Waugh's hands.

Wickets were falling in every over now. Jimmy Adams and Suruj Ragoonath, who had at least stayed for 27 balls for his two runs, were both leg before to the quick bowlers.

Then mercifully for the home side, after five dismissals in 23 balls, the rain took hold and there was time if not to regroup at least to catch breath in the dressing room. But the respite was brief. Jacobs, with the help of the lame Roland Holder, batting with a runner, pushed the score beyond New Zealand's lowest Test total of 26 but then came the frenetic finale with the last four wickets going for four runs.

West Indies' worst test innings

51 v Australia - Trinidad - 1999
53 v Pakistan - Faisalabad - 86-87
76 v Pakistan - Dacca - 58-59
77 v N Zealand - Auckland - 55-56
78 v Australia - Sydney - 51-52
86 v England - The Oval - 1957

Lowest Test Totals

26: NZ v England (Auckland) 1954-55
30: S Africa v England (Port Elizabeth) 1895-96
30: S Africa v England (Birmingham) 1924
35: S Africa v England (Cape Town) 1898-99
36: Australia v England (Birmingham) 1902
36: S Africa v Australia (Melbourne) 1931-32