Windies demolition just a warm-up

Australia in recent years have beaten every major cricket-playing nation in the world both home and away but have not won a series in India for 30 years. And although Australia will defend the Ashes in England this year, Waugh said their upcoming three-Test tour of India was the team’s biggest challenge.

“I think it’s fair enough for people to judge us on what happens on the next tour,” Waugh said. “I’m willing to put that on the line. If we’re not good enough we’re not good enough.”

West Indian captain Jimmy Adams said he admired the way the Australians were trying to establish themselves as one of the greatest teams the sport has seen at a time when the game’s reputation was being destroyed by match-fixing scandals. “We didn’t play as well as we wanted but credit should go to the Australians. They have won 15 matches in a row and lifted the game to a new level,” Adams said.

“I think what they’re doing is good for world cricket — they’ve lifted the mark and I think that is a great achievement.”

Australia’s 5-0 demolition of the West Indies was as thorough and swift as it was predictable but still attracted massive crowds, something that pleased Waugh as much as the results. “We see Test match cricket as being unique and we have a responsibility to bring people along to watch Test cricket,” Waugh said.

Adams’ team arrived in Australia on the back of their first series loss in England in 32 years with a squad full of inexperienced youngsters. They did boast some major firepower in master batsman Brian Lara and fast bowler Courtney Walsh but not enough to worry a rampant Australian team that had already strung together 10 Test wins in a row against Zimbabwe, Pakistan, India and New Zealand.

Australia equalled the world record of 11 consecutive Test victories, set by Clive Lloyd’s great West Indian side of the early 1980s, when they won the first Test in Brisbane by an innings and then claimed the record outright with another three-day win in Perth.

They sealed the series by winning the third Test in Adelaide despite a brilliant 182 from Lara then completed a 5-0 whitewash after Waugh blasted centuries in Melbourne and Sydney.

Despite the one-sidedness of the series, Waugh said the West Indies were a better side than their form suggested. “I think they’ll be a better team for this experience,” Waugh said. “They started believing in themselves and the last three Test matches were very tough.”

Adams said he was also proud of the way his players improved over the course of the tour and he forecast a bright future for the game in the Caribbean, adding that he would like to continue as captain. “It’s disappointing we lost the series. We’ve been here two months and we haven’t won a Test but I would like to think there were some positives and the team has learnt a lot,” Adams said.

“The last game did show a few good signs. A lot of people thought we’d roll over and die and we deserve credit for the way we played and taking the game into a fifth day.” (Reuters)