Pitch two-paced while XI at sixes and sevens
‘Pup’ backs knock call by doc
CURATOR Richard LeTang has declared he’ll keep a covering of grass on the pitch for today’s first Test between Australia and West Indies, but Michael Clarke is not so sure.
Australia’s skipper is also not so sure about the team he’ll be handed by selector-on-duty Mark Waugh. Waugh, who turned 50 yesterday, was in Antigua for last week’s threeday tour match but didn’t attend a dramatic day’s training in Dominica on Monday.
Opener Chris Rogers didn’t train and was ruled out of the Test match by team doctor Peter Brukner because of concussion suffered while batting on Sunday.
Pakistan-born former asylum-seeker Fawad Ahmed’s hopes of making his debut this week could hinge on how dry the wicket appears on Wednesday. If Australia goes with a twin-spin attack of Ahmed and Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are likely to be competing for a new-ball role beside Mitchell Johnson.
This could leave Mitchell Marsh to join Shane Watson as pace-bowling all-rounders in the line-up, with Marsh’s inform brother Shaun edging out uncapped fellow West Australian Adam Voges in Australia’s middle-order batting.
The absence of Victorian batsman Rogers also leaves a gap in the opening role, where current No.3 Watson has played previously.
Watson will need to find a new slot after Clarke announced on Monday he was promoting Steve Smith to first drop following his recordbreaking haul of 769 runs in last summer’s four-Test series against India.
It’s a big week for vice-captain Smith who celebrated turning 26 yesterday.
Shaun Marsh, who hit a century as an opener in Antigua, is also a possible opening partner for David Warner in Dominica. “I thought Mark (Waugh) was coming down today but he’s not here as yet so I’ll speak to him,” Clarke said after training on Monday.
“I don’t know what XI they’ll give me yet. I think it will be determined by how the pitch turns out.
“So that decision will be made quite late I would imagine. And then I’ll work out the batting order from there.
“You know Shaun just opened and made a hundred, Watto has opened before and been quite successful up the top of the order, so we’ve got some other options.
“Let’s just assess once I get the XI, then I’ll be able to work out what I think the best batting order is for these conditions.”
Mitchell Marsh is tipped to get the nod ahead of Voges if Victoria’s Ahmed, 33, is handed his debut as the second Muslim to play Test cricket for Australia.
“If you play two spinners you’re going to have to play two quicks and two all-rounders, I would imagine, in Watto and Mitch Marsh,” Clarke said.
“So whatever quicks (from a pace quartet of Johnson, Hazlewood, Starc and Peter Siddle) miss out are going to be extremely unlucky.”
Clarke described the pitch as “quite wet”.
“They are watering it a few times a day,” he said.
“I reckon we’ll probably have a better indication tomorrow.
“See if they cut that grass or leave that grass on it.
“Generally they do that and then the day before it is normally all gone, a bit like the practice game the other day.”
Clarke said one of the practice pitches was taking spin and the other was fast-paced.
“It feels like a raging turner or green seamer. So, we’ll wait and see what they give us in the middle and then we’ll make a plan from there,” Clarke said. AUSTRALIAN captain Michael Clarke praised the courage of team doctor Peter Brukner after he ruled concussed opening batsman Chris Rogers out of the first Test against the West Indies, starting tonight.
Brukner said Cricket Australia had tightened its concussion policy after the November death of former Test batsman Phillip Hughes, after he was felled by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield game.
“There’s been a lot spoken about with concussion and as hard as it is on Chris, I think credit needs to go to Peter Brukner,” Clarke said yesterday of the Test at Windsor Park in Roseau in Dominica.
“As I’m sure the doc would have said, if he gets hit again who knows what the consequences are, and I don’t think anybody wants to see that happen for the sake of missing one game.
“I think it takes courage for the doctor to make this decision, but credit to him and we all support him 100 per cent.
“When the team is under pressure or it’s a tough call, that’s where you want the person in that role to stand up and make the call.
“Chris is exactly like me. He wants to play, as I want him to play, but he also understands and respects that there is a lot more to it than just walking back out on to the field and playing again.
“I’d rather see the health and safety of the individual come first and foremost, and in this case that’s exactly what we’re doing and I think it’s a really smart decision.”