From the 1960s to 1995, the tour of the Caribbean was the holy grail, the litmus paper to test a country’s cricketing greatness.
Australia and the West Indies fought many thrilling Test encounters home and away, the most famous being the 1960-61 Test series which included the first tied Test in Brisbane.
This inaugurated the Frank Worrell Trophy, which Australia has held since 1995, winning four times in Australia and four times in the West Indies.
Will Michael Clarke’s men return home from the Caribbean on the 28th of April holding the Frank Worrell Trophy again?
Different Australian squads have been chosen for the Windies tour; for the five one-day internationals starting in Kingstown on Friday, two Twenty20s starting on March 27, and three Tests commencing on April 7.
Only seven players have been selected in all three squads: vice-captain and top order bat Shane Watson, openers David Warner and Matthew Wade, middle order batsmen Michael Hussey and Peter Forrest, fast bowler James Pattinson and off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
How will the Aussie trio of Ws — Warner, Wade and Watson – go in the land of the three fabulous Windies Ws – Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott? Like Worrell, Watson is an all-rounder, and Wade keeps wickets as Walcott did.
They have a long way to go before they could be considered in the same bracket as the Windies wonders, but it’s an interesting coincidence to discuss at the water cooler during morning tea breaks.
Will Clarke be fit enough to lead Australia in the first ODI? Watson showed promise as captain in Clarke’s absence in the recently concluded tri-nations series in Australia, beating India in Sydney on the 26th of February and Sri Lanka in the third final in Adelaide to lift the trophy.
My XI for the first ODI, in batting order, would be Warner, Watson, Clarke (all-rounder Daniel Christian to bat at No. 6 if Clarke is unfit), Forrest, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Brad Haddin, Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Clint McKay and Lyon.
12th man would be top-order batsman George Bailey. Reserves would be Wade, Brett Lee, and slow left-arm orthodox Xavier Doherty.
To me, Wade’s wicket-keeping was disappointing in the finals of the recent series. Lee gives away too many runs in ODIs.
I would have picked Peter Siddle above Hilfenhaus in my XI, but he is not in the ODI squad.
Pattinson and Hilfenhaus will start the attack in the ODI opener at Kingstown with in-form McKay coming at first change. Then run-saver Watson and offie Lyon.
My prediction is that Australia will win the ODI series 3-0.
They are the top-ranked ODI team with 127 points, leading second-ranked South Africa by nine points. The West Indians rank eighth, with 79 points.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Bayman, well, David Hussey topscored in the second ODI!
formeropenside
Guest
Curiously? You expect Victorians to make runs?
formeropenside
Guest
Once upon a time, Cricinfo was fantastic...
Bayman
Guest
Kersi, Curiously, the Victorian contingent in the ODI team contributed exactly nought to the run tally. Wade and Hussey made ducks while McKay (the only real Victorian among them) ran out of time before he could get dismissed - so he finished 0no.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
So how did Australia's 3Ws go in the first ODI in the land of the 3Ws? Watson scored 21 and took a catch. Warner scored 40. Wade made a duck but stumped one, as Australia started her tour of the Windies with a convincing 64 run win with 112 balls in hand. Well begun!
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Bayman, Bill Playle, I presume.
amazonfan
Guest
A tough marker. Why only 7.5/10 for Walcott, who averaged 56.69 and who remains the only batsman to score five centuries in a single Test series? I also think he should be ranked ahead of Mark Waugh. As for Warne's being ranked 9.5/10, do you believe that nobody deserves to be ranked 10/10, or is 10/10 only reserved for the likes of Bradman (and perhaps Sobers)?
Bayman
Guest
Jason, Yeah, maybe, although Barrington may beg to differ. Australia had Davidson and then McKenzie, South Africa had Adcock and Heine followed by Peter Pollock and later still Proctor while the Windies had Hall, Griffiths and Sobers. It's probably fair to say India and Pakistan did not have a lot of real pace - and in India's case sometimes none at all - however the Kiwis did have Gary Bartlett who was very quick (though some questioned his action). England, of course, had Trueman, Statham and Snow although Barrington only had to face them in the County Championship. It is also probably fair to say that most of the rest were fast-medium or, perhaps, medium-fast. I'm thinking of guys like Connolly, Hawke, Renneberg, Corling and Freeman for Australia; Collinge, Motz, Cameron, Cunis and Dayle Hadlee for New Zealand; Dumbrill and Goddard for South Africa. Some of these guys, though, while not express were very difficult in the right conditions. Lots of swing and seam and on a helpful track certainly quick enough.
Jason
Guest
Border faced both in tests but was only dismissed by Lance. Actually, I couldn't find anyone who was dismissed by both. However, Wasim and Botham dismissed both Cairns' during their careers.
Jason
Guest
Was thinking more about fast bowling.
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Sean, An excellent idea for me to research on and do a post in The Roar one of these days. Thank you. I know that Tendulkar has played against both Geoff Marsh and son Shaun Marsh at Test level.
Bayman
Guest
amazon, I am inclined to agree with you.......
Sean
Guest
Kersi A little off topic, but I know you love your stats. I notice that Ricky Ponting got out to Alistair McDermott today in the Shield final and note that Punter would have also faced his father Craig (and played with him) in the early 90s. Do you know if C McDermott ever got Punter out in first class cricket?? would be an interesting stat if he had been out to both father and son! This also got me thinking abot other father son combos, I wonder if anyone faced both Chris and Lance Cairns, anyway thought it might make a good article! Cheers Sean
Bayman
Guest
Sheek, I often wonder how old some of these cricinfo gurus are when they make selections like this. Any half reasonable judge would have both May and Compton in any team ahead of Pietersen. Mind you, I can't imagine either of them with the old "skunk" hairstyle. For that matter, as previously suggested by me, I also would not have Barrington ahead of either of them. There's those "averages" again. Perhaps if these experts just said they were selecting the best "averages" for their best XI we can all rest easy. Averages, however, do not take into account the context - as any look at Trumper's career would tell you. Averaged in the thirties, ergo, could not have been that good!!!!
Jason
Guest
Yeah, well no one ever accused Cricinfo of knowing much about cricket.
Bayman
Guest
Kersi, I'll introduce you to him at the next ACS event on the 29th March.
Bayman
Guest
Jason, I'm a little unclear as to what was scarce in the 60s - fast bowling or batsmen who were relatively poor against it?
Kersi Meher-Homji
Guest
Amazonfan, Here are points out of 10 for the famous W trios: Worrell 9/10 Weekes 9/10 Walcott 7.5/10 WI total: 25.5/30 (85%) S Waugh 8/10 M Waugh 7.5/10 Warne 9.5/10 Aus total: 25/30 (83.3%)
amazonfan
Guest
The WIndies Three Ws were amazing players, and in fact, I would put them above Australia's Ws. While Warne was the greatest W of all time, Mark Waugh's legend is based upon more his ability than his achievements (although he had some pretty good achievements), and Steve's legend was mainly based upon his longevity. All three Ws were knighted; I would argue that only Warne (and to a lesser extent Steve) deserves a knighthood among Australia's Ws.
sheek
Guest
Jason, A couple of years ago, cricinfo selected its all-time XIs for each country. I couldn't believe Compton missed out to Pietersen. At the time Pietersen was averaging around 52, now he's in the 48s. Either way, I think he's a tad over-rated. Good cricketer Pietersen, but not England all-time best XI, I reckon. From memory, the cricinfo England top 6 were Hobbs, Hutton, Hammond, Pietersen, Barrington, Botham (batting all-rounder), with Compton 12th man.