Go west, young indies

I must confess that I haven't watched much of the current Australia-West Indies Test series to date. For the most part, I've had the alibi of Other Committments, but it's also true that I haven't found it very motivating to follow. It's a shame, because I have always enjoyed following Aus-WI contests over the last three decades or so.

As I write, Australia are 7/362 in their first innings at Bellerive, shortly after lunch on day three, 213 in front. Brad Hodge has just brought up his half-century in his maiden Test innings, and yesterday Mike Hussey notched up his first Test century in his second Test. Both these guys are wonderful reserves to have for any international eleven. Hodge has probably taken over the Martyn/Katich spot in the team for a while, but I fear Hussey's place in the annals of Test cricket will be along the lines of Tom Moody or Martin Love.

I can't make much comment about the West Indian batting at this stage, I keep blinking when they play their innings. I keep thinking about the 1975-76 WI team, they had just won the World Cup and then got flogged 5-1 by Australia in the Tests. They were a better team than 1-5, and weren't far from developing into one of the greatest teams of all time. I wish I could say that about the 2005-06 West Indians. However...

In case you haven't picked up on it yet, the Cricket Australia website has a regularly updated MP3 section, mostly comprising press conference interviews. They also have ABC commentary highlights of each day of the Test - day one and day two are already available.