Batsmen Fritter Away Advantage

The fourth and final test at the ARG was firmly in Australia's grasp after the West Indian batsmen frittered away the advantage given to them by Jermaine Lawson's record breaking bowling performance yesterday.

On the surface, it would seem that the Australian batting clicked the second time around, with the tourists on 176/0 at the end of the second day, while the West Indian bowling has failed to inspire confidence. However, cricket is a game of ebb and flow where events of one innings or session have their roots in whatever happened before.

As Lawson said after his 7/78 in the first innings, the West Indian bowlers would have hoped that their team consolidate their position after the Aussies had been bowled out for a relatively low score on a pitch with good bounce, but with no other alarming features. The manner in which the West Indian batsmen batted meant that they barely managed to equal Australia's score, thus reducing the game to a one innings contest. Obviously, in any such contest, the advantage is very much with the team setting the target.

Without taking away credit from Australia's performance in the field, which was top drawer, as is customary for this Australian team, it was disheartening to see the West Indies fail to capitalise on their one opportunity in the series so far. The Australians gave nothing away, but having endured the worst of the series so far, this must have been no surprise to the West Indian batsmen.

Considering the state of the match, one would have expected the tone of the West Indian innings to be one of steady accumulation. Instead, the West Indian batsmen, notably Lara, reacted to some gamesmanship by Australia, which they should have well expected and played too many shots.

As things turned out, the undue emphasis on attack caused at least two crucial wickets to fall, Sarwan and Lara. The West Indian captain was the one batsman who could have played a long innings and lifted his team to a substantial lead. The Aussies would be well aware of this fact, and their intent in needling Lara may well have been to get him to throw his wicket away with a rash shot. The way events transpired, Lara played perfectly into the hands of his opponents by getting dismissed as he did. His innings of 68 may have been the first half-century of the match, and featured some scorching strokes, but in the context of the game, one fears that it may turn out to be largely irrelevant.

Lara apart, several of the West Indies batsmen could be legitimately accused of losing their wickets through lack of application. A specialist opening batsmen like Gayle had no business playing down the wrong line to a straight delivery to get bowled. Sarwan looked in good nick till be needlessly lofted a drive to give Bichel a return catch. Ganga looked to pull a delivery that could have been left alone.

The most shocking dismissals, however, would have to be those of Chanderpaul, playing down the wrong line to McGrath and Jacobs, run out at a very crucial stage of the game thanks to some schoolboyish cricket. In his tenure at the wicket, Jacobs looked extremely uncomfortable and while he has been a great contributor to West Indies cricket, this performance makes one believe that Baugh will replace him sooner than later.

Jacobs' lack of fitness finally cost him his wicket when he failed to get his bat back in time to beat Lee's direct hit, even though there was no attempt to take a single. As for Chanderpaul, after this dismissal and his first ball duck in the previous test, he has 153 runs in five innings, including one century. Should Marlon Samuels bring more discipline into his game, Chanderpaul may well be competing for a place in the team with him, a steep fall for someone who should be playing the role of a leading batsman in this team.

The Australian second innings was a study in contrast to the West Indian innings. Lawson started with hostile intent and sent down some venomous deliveries, but both the Australian openers played him with some caution. The bad deliveries were scored off, while the good ones were negotiated. In short, there was none of the exaggerated aggression that was the highlight of the West Indian batting. Only after the batsmen settled in did they score freely, especially off Banks and Drakes.

Of the West Indian bowlers, Dillon was completely off rhythm, causing more worries to his captain than he did to the Australian batsmen. Drakes was ineffective and Banks started well, but seemed to lose composure after Lara dropped a straightforward catch at slip. Lawson bowled a good first spell, but seemed to tire and lose pace rather quickly. He may have expected to rest himself today as the West Indies consolidated with the bat, but as Ambrose and Walsh can testify, West Indian fast bowlers are expected to perform miracles innings after innings, to make up for the fact that the West Indian batsmen barely play one or two good innings in a series.