Dyson believes Windies can surprise “vulnerable” Aussies

West Indies coach John Dyson believes his side can surprise a “vulnerable” Australia next month, despite admitting his players were unhappy and reluctant to train when he took charge only months ago.

Former Australian Test batsman Dyson said he found players low on morale and self-esteem on his first assignment with the Windies in South Africa last December.

“When I first got with them it was a real effort to get them to do anything – I wasn’t used to that,” Dyson said.

“I had been used to teams that were pretty enthusiastic about practice and all forms of it – these fellas didn’t seem that way.

“They seemed guarded with everything they did, they seemed defensive about everything they said or did. Very early on it was hard to get them to talk at all.”

But after ending a run of seven straight Test series defeats by drawing 1-1 with Sri Lanka this month, the West Indies coach believes his side is now in far better shape to tackle a re-building Australian team.

“They are human and they are at a time of their game where they have a few new players coming in and some of the old guard are just getting that little bit older,” said Dyson of Ricky Ponting’s side.

“So who knows? We might just catch them at a time when they are a little but more vulnerable than they would normally be.”

The three-Test and five one-day Caribbean trip will be Australia’s first since the retirement of Adam Gilchrist, and first Test tour since Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn all bid farewell early last year.

There had been fears the West Indies would be without captain Chris Gayle and key batsmen Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the first two Tests of the series because of their Indian IPL commitments.

But Gayle today said he was more than likely to play in the opening Test starting May 22, with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) saying players would only be given permission to play in the tournament up to the start of the Australia tour.

After years of dismal results, the Windies have started to turn the corner under Dyson.

They scored a breakthrough Test win in South Africa in December, before going on to lose the series and this month squared their series with Sri Lanka after winning the second Test on Sunday.

Dyson said the side’s failure to realise their potential in recent years was probably down to the negativity that has surrounded them.

“I think the guys have suffered from a lot of negativity from everywhere,” he said.

“They cop negativity from all forms of the local media here, they cop negativity from a lot of officials unfortunately and that became the frame of mind.

“As someone put it to me they have been told they are not good enough so often that they may actually have started to believe that.”

To turn that around, Dyson has talked to players and livened up their training sessions.

“What I have tried to do is create an environment, in terms of practice and everything we do, where some enjoyment has been put back into it,” he said.

“I’ve tried to talk to them individually and reach them down at that level first.”

Gayle said the players were relishing the new regime.

“I enjoy working with him, it is a bit of fun as well, sometimes you do get a chance to laugh,” Gayle said.

“Communication-wise it’s very good. I’ve seen a lot of improvement.”