Wisden
Tour review

Australia v West Indies, 2015-16

Adam Collins


The victorious Australia side pose with the Frank Worrell Trophy, Australia v West Indies, 3rd Test, Sydney, 5th day, January 7, 2016
The victorious Australia side pose with the Frank Worrell Trophy © Getty Images
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Series/Tournaments: West Indies tour of Australia

Test matches (3): Australia 2, West Indies 0
It is said that to hang a lantern on your problems is to begin solving them. The solution may be distant, but West Indies cricket had the biggest, brightest floodlights trained on its troubles, as the team were annihilated in the premier time slot of the Australian summer. Across three Test matches the tourists served as glorified bowling machines - and their batting fared little better.

Questions abounded. Why were the prime matches allocated to West Indies, and not New Zealand, who had toured at the beginning of the season? And how could public interest be generated in a series against an opponent thrashed by a makeshift team of emerging players ahead of the First Test at Hobart? For Tasmanian administrators already on notice that they might lose their Test because of poor attendances, it was cause for real concern. This series came 20 years after West Indies lost the No. 1 mantle to Australia, a stark reminder of their demise ever since. Off the field, some big names from the past were working hard: Richie Richardson was team manager, Curtly Ambrose bowling coach, and Clive Lloyd chairman of selectors. Phil Simmons, meanwhile, had been reinstated as head coach following his suspension for criticising selection policy a few weeks earlier. It mattered little. Before long, they bucked against the scrutiny, banning broadcaster Fazeer Mohammed from interviewing players because of perceived unfair reporting. Whatever the gripe, it was clumsy treatment of their sole travelling journalist.

As usual, West Indies were, for various reasons, missing some of their strongest players, not least the trio of Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell, all enjoying themselves in Australia's Big Bash League while the Test team wilted. So lopsided was the series that entertainment had to be sought elsewhere. Australians were fascinated that the touring party contained two men named Brathwaite, so nearly shared with an iconic local pop star of yesteryear. In fact, Daryl Braithwaite was invited to sing at a Big Bash game the day before the Third Test, which seemed at odds with Cricket Australia's slogan for a cringeworthy campaign telling Test crowds "Don't be a Daryl" (their ad featured a man named Daryl who misses the cricket because he's out shopping for tiles).

The statistics were no less absurd. Adam Voges lifted his average against West Indies to 542 in five Tests (and his overall figure to 85). In a welcome counter-attack at Hobart, Kraigg Brathwaite briefly threatened Charles Bannerman's record for the highest proportion of runs in a completed innings (67.34%), dating back to the very first Test match, in 1877; he had to settle for fourth on the list, having made 94 out of West Indies' 148 all out - or 63.51%. At Melbourne, four Australians made centuries in an innings for the third time. And only a promotion up the order on the final day of the Third Test saved wicketkeeper Peter Nevill from registering a "did not bat" through an entire series. In all, Australia scored 1,489 runs for the loss of 12 wickets, to West Indies' 1,254 for 48.

This isn't to say the series didn't matter to individuals. An understated story was the elevation of 31-year-old slow left-armer Stephen O'Keefe to the Australian team for the Third Test, in which he looked the part, and put himself in contention for the second spinner's role for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2016. On the batting front, the Australian selectors made a tough - but justified - decision to drop Shaun Marsh after his 182 at Hobart. Instead, they kept faith with Usman Khawaja, returning from a hamstring injury, and Joe Burns, both of whom had been picked against New Zealand at the start of the summer; each made a century at Melbourne. Khawaja admitted thinking he would never play for Australia again after suffering a serious knee injury at the end of 2014.

Now he was one of the most in-form players on the planet. West Indies did, though, have one or two bright spots. Darren Bravo's refusal to accept the status quo at Melbourne, where he made a dogged 81, was as impressive as his classy century at Hobart. Kraigg Brathwaite looked up to the task of being a Test opener, while his unrelated namesake Carlos added much-needed spunk as a big-hitting all-rounder down the order. Jason Holder, the captain, showed himself to be a capable cricketer with visible determination, speaking with eloquence and purpose. He bowled better than his numbers suggested, and his batting may demand a promotion to bolster a fragile middle order in which Marlon Samuels registered 35 runs, and about as many hapless half-attempts in the field. But we could laud green shoots for the rest of our lives. It's more serious than that now. A fight for the very survival of Test cricket in the Caribbean awaits. It's not going to be pretty.

Match reports for

Tour Match: Cricket Australia XI v West Indians at Brisbane, Dec 2-5, 2015
Report | Scorecard

1st Test: Australia v West Indies at Hobart, Dec 10-12, 2015
Report | Scorecard

Tour Match: Victoria XI v West Indians at Geelong, Dec 19-20, 2015
Report | Scorecard

2nd Test: Australia v West Indies at Melbourne, Dec 26-29, 2015
Report | Scorecard

3rd Test: Australia v West Indies at Sydney, Jan 3-7, 2016
Report | Scorecard

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