Australia vs West Indies - November/December 2022

Ljp86

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Australia play host to West Indies in a two test series as part of the World Test Championship. Australia sit on top of the table while West Indies are sixth but aren't too far behind Sri Lanka who currently sit in third.

The began earlier this month as the Windies took on a combined NSW Country/ACT XI in their first warm up game which ended in a draw while their second match, a day/night fixture against the Prime Minister's XI also ended in a draw in what was a rather tense finish.

The fixtures for the series and the squads are below.

Fixtures

First Test 30 Nov - 3 Dec
: Australia vs West Indies at Perth Stadium (10:20 local time, 2:20 UTC)
Second Test 8-12 Dec: Australia vs West Indies at Adelaide Oval (D/N, 14:30 local time, 4:00 YTC)


Squads

Australia
: *Pat Cummins, Scott Boland, +Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner
West Indies: *Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Shamarh Brooks, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, +Joshua Da Silva, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales


Match wise, the curators at Perth Stadium have rolled out a fairly grassy pitch so whoever wins the toss might be keen to bowl first. It has also been pretty warm in Perth as is the case as we head encroach on the summer months. Today reached 37.4 degrees with 35 degrees forecast for tomorrow before things cool down a bit on Thursday and Friday so that could see some cracks develop in the latter days of the test, another trait of pitches in Perth. More importantly there is no rain forecast for the duration of the test so there won't be any interruptions for the weather.


Weather

Wednesday
: Sunny, 24-35
Thursday: Cloudy, 17-25
Friday: Sunny 14-27
Saturday: Mostly sunny, 15-29
Sunday: Sunny, 15-29
 
Australia have gone into the game with a relatively settled side. West Indies will name their side at the toss tomorrow.

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, +Alex Carey, *Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood
 
West Indies XI: *Kraigg Brathwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Nkrumah Bonner, Jermaine Blackwood, Kyle Mayers, Jason Holder, +Joshua Da Silva, Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales
 
Australia finish day one at 2/293. Marnus Labuschagne is 154 not out while Steve Smith is undefeated on 59. Usman Khawaja scored 65 before nicking behind off the bowling off Kyle Mayers while David Warner chopped on Jayden Seales to be the first wicket of the day.

Australia batted fairly well during the day while West Indies were okay overall, some wayward bowling at times and dropped catches didn't help. The Windies will be looking for early wickets tomorrow while Australia will be out to consolidate early before building as the day goes.

Tomorrow could see a possible shower early but shouldn't interfere too much with play on day two.
 
Really good effort from Braithwaite and Chanderpaul. Gee Chanderpaul looks and plays just like his father. I thought it was Shiv there for a second. In the end a good effort from both sides. Australia winning pretty easily in the end.
 
I thought West Indies put up a decent effort with the bat, particularly from Brathwaite and Chanderpaul across both innings. Chase put in a good effort too in the second innings to hang around, he does have five test centuries to his name after all.

All in all it was a fairly entertaining game with both sides batting quite well across the five days although the Windies do have some issues with their attack. Adelaide should have plenty of grass on it I would have thought as it the usual case for day/night Adelaide tests. This should help the Windies more after the issues they had with the ball in Perth.
 
Lance Morris earns a call-up into the squad for the second test as does Michael Neser as potential cover for Pat Cummins. Morris is the leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield thus far with 27 wickets and it the quickest bowler in the country with an ability to bowl over 150 km/hr. Michael Neser played one test last summer in Adelaide against England, as cover for Cummins who was out with COVID-19.

 
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, *Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, +Alex Carey, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

West Indies: *Kraigg Brathwaite, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shamarh Brooks, Jermaine Blackwood, Devon Thomas, Jason Holder, +Joshua Da Silva, Roston Chase, Alzarri Joseph, Anderson Phillip, Marquino Mindley


The second test between Australia and West Indies got underway in Adelaide today. Australia reached 3/330 at the close from 89 overs with Marnus Labuschagne and Travis Head leading the way with centuries to put Australia in a very strong position.

West Indies claimed 2/2 in the middle session, including Steve Smith for a duck to strike back but other than that, it was not a great day for the Windies with some ordinary bowling at times joined by sloppy fielding.

Australia will likely bat on tomorrow and potentially declare later in the day towards the evening session.
 
I thought the first test wasn't too bad. West Indie struggled with the ball but were competitive with the bat in making over 300 in both innings.

Unfortunately the second test was incredibly one-sided. Australia declared twice but their second innings was a case of hit out or get out. West Indies struggled with the ball series but their second innings effort with the bat was diabolically bad. Certainly a lot for them to ponder back home, simply batting time for most of their line-up is a real issue for them at the moment.
 
Those matches were like a cure for insomnia.
The Windies are one of those nations where the T20 circus has had a profound affect on Test cricket by taking away some of the best players over the past decade. Out of their current lineup only a handful remain Test standard, going on their pitiful effort against us.
 
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