Australia begins its tour of the West Indies on Friday with the
opening One Day International of the five-match series taking place
against St Vincent.
Shane Watson will captain the side in the absence of injured skipper Michael Clarke. Watson has injury concerns, particularly in the fast bowling department with only Brett Lee and Clint McKay available due to niggles to James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus.
However, Watson was up for the challenge without the duo, with Australia likely to have two spinners for the clash, like they did in the decisive ODI Final against Sri Lanka last week.
“For me as a captain it gives me plenty of options when you do have two spinners of that quality,” Watson said referring to Xavier Doherty and Nathan Lyon.
“In the end it’s all about trying to balance that with exactly what we need here with the conditions but also with the West Indies team and how they’re going to play their cricket.”
Windies skipper Darren Sammy said playing the opener in St Vincent, where his side have a recorded 17 wins from 20 games, would be an advantage for his side.
“St Vincent has been a very good ground for us and as the West Indies team it should be in our favour,” Sammy said. “For me personally it’s a happy hunting ground.”
Meanwhile, Brad Haddin has withdrawn from the Australia squad due to personal reasons, with Peter Nevill to replace him.
Shane Watson will captain the side in the absence of injured skipper Michael Clarke. Watson has injury concerns, particularly in the fast bowling department with only Brett Lee and Clint McKay available due to niggles to James Pattinson and Ben Hilfenhaus.
However, Watson was up for the challenge without the duo, with Australia likely to have two spinners for the clash, like they did in the decisive ODI Final against Sri Lanka last week.
“For me as a captain it gives me plenty of options when you do have two spinners of that quality,” Watson said referring to Xavier Doherty and Nathan Lyon.
“In the end it’s all about trying to balance that with exactly what we need here with the conditions but also with the West Indies team and how they’re going to play their cricket.”
Windies skipper Darren Sammy said playing the opener in St Vincent, where his side have a recorded 17 wins from 20 games, would be an advantage for his side.
“St Vincent has been a very good ground for us and as the West Indies team it should be in our favour,” Sammy said. “For me personally it’s a happy hunting ground.”
Meanwhile, Brad Haddin has withdrawn from the Australia squad due to personal reasons, with Peter Nevill to replace him.
No comments:
Post a Comment