West Indies' Dwayne Bravo (left) and Denesh Ramdin run between the wickets during the fourth day of the second Test against Australia in Hobart on Sunday (Saturday night Caribbean time). - REUTERS
HOBART, Australia, (CMC):
IN THE aftermath of a nine-wicket defeat on the final morning of the second Test at Bellerive Oval yesterday (Sunday night Caribbean time) that gave Australia an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul insists that his players are trying their best.
Chanderpaul was speaking after the home team knocked off the 78 runs required to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy with opening batsman Mike Hussey hitting the winning run to finish unbeaten on 31.
"I don't think anyone is thinking like this," responded Chanderpaul, when asked if some of the established players in the side weren't motivated to perform because their places were not under threat.
WORKING ON OUR GAME
"I don't think anybody is comfortable. Everyone knows if you don't perform you might not get selected again.
"Everybody knows they have to work hard on their cricket, so we all are working hard on our game."
It was Australia's 10th win in the last 11 Tests against the Caribbean side, all of which have been by very wide margins.
Having taken the first Test by 379 runs in Brisbane, Ricky Ponting's side will be heavily favoured to complete a 3-0 sweep in the final match beginning on Friday (Thursday night - Caribbean time) at Adelaide.
West Indies did have one success on the final morning, when with just one run required for victory, Matthew Hayden attempting to end the match with a big hit, succeeded in slicing a catch to Devon Smith at cover off Chris Gayle to depart rather embarrassingly for 46, leaving Hussey and Aussie captain Ricky Ponting to formalise the result.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH
Following on his knock of 137 in the first innings, Hussey, the 30-year-old West Australian in only his second Test, was named Man-of-the-Match.
Despite Chanderpaul's insistence on all the players' commitment to the task, the performances of Ramnaresh Sarwan so far in the series have come under the microscope not just for his tally of 86 runs from four innings, but also for the cavalier manner of his dismissals.
For a player with 57 Tests under his belt and the responsibility as vice-captain, his efforts have so far not been worthy of that status. Yet Chanderpaul is backing him fully to bounce back.
"'Sars' is a fighter," he said. "He is going to go out there again and keep fighting. If things don't go his way he is going to keep fighting all the way. 'Sar' is one of those guys that, any day, he can come out and play his game and give you a big score."
VICTIMS
Due to the stifling code of conduct imposed by the International Cricket Council, captains cannot comment on umpiring decisions, although the West Indies have every reason to feel aggrieved after Chanderpaul himself and star batsman Brian Lara (twice) were the victims of questionable decisions at Bellerive.
"He's very upset about not getting runs. He's looking for a big score," was all Chanderpaul would venture to say about Lara's state of mind after the latest setbacks left him with a paltry tally of 102 runs from two Tests with possibly his last Test in Australia to come in just a few days' time.
Despite the contentious decisions, Chanderpaul is not in favour of any expanded use of the television technology to aid umpires, as was experimented with during last month's ICC Super Series between Australia and a Rest of the World team.
"I don't agree with using it for lbws," he noted. "I rather you go to the standing umpires for those decisions and leave the technology for just the line decisions as it is now."
