Australia have raised the bar in world cricket, says Adams

Adams said rather than envying the Australian success, he had great respect for the way the Australian system had changed things for the better in world cricket.

“I have a lot of respect for the standard of cricket that they play,” Adams said.

“I say that not as an opposition captain but as a cricketer. What they are in the process doing is good for world cricket. They have lifted the mark and that is a great achievement.

“And I have a great deal of respect for the system which has produced this kind of cricket.”

Adams said the major difference between the two sides over the last six weeks was Australia’s superior mental toughness.

“What stands out for us, especially on tour, is that mentally we need to be stronger,”Adams said.

“The Australians come across as mentally tougher group than any other team in world cricket at the moment.”

He admitted Steve Waugh’s Australians were also physically tougher than his side this summer – adding “five Test matches in six weeks was a tiring prospect.”

Despite the humiliation of a first-ever series clean sweep, 33-year-old Adams said his gut reaction was that he wanted to continue as captain.

He said there were positives as the West Indies face the next toughest side in Test cricket after Australia – South Africa in a five-Test series in the Caribbean from March.

“There have been positive signs all along on this tour -it just would have been nice if we had gotten all those signs in one game,” he said.

“But this last game did show a few good signs.”

He said the batting in the second innings, when the WestIndies made 352, was encouraging because the tourists “were looking down the barrel and the fellows really put their heads down and batted well collectively.

“That’s something that’s been a feature of the Australian team this summer and it was good to see our lads doing it, especially under the circumstances when a lot of people thought we would roll over and die.

“It’s a credit to the team that they really stuck at it and took the game into the fifth day.”

Adams said part of the reason the West Indies showed more fight in this match had a lot to do with the fact it was the last Test match.

“We gave people licence, we said this is the last Test , whatever you have left you have to leave it out in the middle’,” he said.

“It wasn’t as simple as that but the fellows were more relaxed and it showed in the way we played.”