Waugh Blasts Windies Pitches
Tue, Apr 29, '03
Australian captain Steve Waugh fears for the future of West Indian cricket unless Caribbean curators stop producing lifeless wickets.
Waugh and Australian batsman Justin Langer said the flat, slow wickets served up in the opening two Tests had forced fast bowlers from both teams to toil for relatively little reward.
The Australian attack has coped better than the toothless Windies bowlers, who will be boosted if young quicks Jermaine Lawson and Tino Best are selected for Thursday's third Test in Barbados.
The Windies steamrolled teams through the late 1970s and 1980s with the most feared pace battery in the game but the current attack hasn't looked a remote chance of taking 20 Australian wickets to win a Test.
But Waugh said the bowlers weren't solely to blame for the Windies' losses in the opening Tests.
"It's a reflection of the wickets. I don't think any quick bowlers from either side have been real damaging," Waugh said today.
"It's too much in favour of the batsmen. Both the first Test wickets, looking at it, it's almost been a miracle we've taken 40 wickets on those pitches because they've been so flat and slow.
"It's a major problem over here for cricket in the Caribbean. They're not going to produce any quick bowlers if they keep putting pitches out like that. There's no encouragement for them, it's too much hard work."
Waugh took on the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose during his first Caribbean tour 12 years ago but the Test captain said those wickets were much different to those served up this month.
Langer received a brutal welcome to Windies cricket during his debut in Adelaide 10 years ago when he was concussed by a delivery from Ian Bishop.
The Australians would be unlucky to be hit on the hand in this series but Langer said the conditions weren't only harming the bowlers because their batsmen weren't prepared for the juicy wickets in other countries.
The Windies have not won an away series, apart from those against minnows Bangaladesh and Zimbabwe, since beating New Zealand in 1994-95.
"For the overall bigger picture of West Indies cricket I think it would be more advantageous for them to play on bouncier, quicker wickets," Langer said.
"We saw in Australia last time they had a bit of trouble when the ball got up on our wickets."
But Langer is interested to see what the likes of Best and Lawson can produce if selected on Thursday.
The uncapped Best has laid some bait for the Australians when running into some of the touring players at the team hotels.
"They say he's feisty and he's been telling me, he's got plenty to say for himself," Langer said. "He's a really nice, young bloke, very confident at least on the outside.
"He's been telling me to look forward to plenty of bumpers if he plays at Kensington Oval. He's only a short bloke but they tell me he's pretty quick. Time will tell."
Best has made no secret of his intention to bowl fast if selected for his first Test in front of his home crowd.
He has an appetite for work, telling Windies captain Brian Lara last week "I'm not here to drink soup" when asked if he would bowl another session at training.
"That's the attitude that every young cricketer should have," Best said.
"You come, you train hard and you play your cricket hard. A batsman's career is longer than a bowler's career. I have to work harder than a batsman."
* From wire reports.