From the looks of everything so far, this Test series could develop into a batman’s delight. Yesterday it was the West Indies turn to feast on the niceties the slow Queens Park Oval Pitch.
And it was no better occasion for Darren Ganga to join an elite band of players to score back to back innings centuries against mighty Australia.
Following up on his maiden Test century in the second innings on another featherbed track at Bourda, Ganga rode the the support of a loving home crowd to score a brilliant 117 yesterday that made him the crown prince of Trinidad’s cricket, succeeding his mentor and compatriot Brianb Lara, formerly the Prince of Port of Spain, subsequently christened the King of Trinidad.
Indeed the talk in some parts of the ground suggested that Ganga was second to none except Lara in West Indies batsmanship, long before he belted Stuart McGill to the midwicket boundary to bring up his first century at the Oval in his debut game there.
Notwithstanding, Ronnie Sarwan, Marlon Samuels or Chris Gayle, Ganga is the man many Trinis feel will carry West Indies cricket into the future despite the fact that he averaged 22.96 in 17 tests before this series and needed 18 to score his first ton.
Not taking anything away from the stylist righthander nevertheless, he crafted a classy innings which began on Sunday, riding the support from a loving home crowd and capitalising on a too slow pitch for international standard, to become the second West Indian since Lara in 1999, to post two centuries in a row against the Aussies.
Yet his true ability can only be confirmed when he makes big runs in unfamiliar conditions outside of the West Indies.
Even the prolific Sarwan was put into the shadows on his return to competition by Ganga’s brilliance yesterday. Sarwan, in his first match since mid-February his most gusty performance ever against Sri Lanka in the World Cup, Sarwan showed glimpses of his fine repertoire of shots before he was undone by a Brett Lee yorker.
It immediately brought back memories of the Australia tour in 2000/01 when an identical delivery triggered the worst period of his young career so far.
The venue might have been different but Lee’s tactic was the same.
He once again exploited Sarwan’s high backlift by firing in the yorker before the batsman, not as sharp as he was before his layoff, could get his bat down.
Lee certainly did not forget his feat in that Brisbane Test match and epitomized the professionalism of his team, a quality missing from the West Indies attack on the first two days.
Samuels, like his young batting teammates, all have talent and he treated the crowd to his wide range of elegant strokes not too dissimilar to the epic innings he hit off India in the one-day series decider last November.
But the difference between West Indies batting display and that of their opponents was commitment to building long innings.
Ricky Ponting batted more than eight hours for his double century, Darren Lehmann likewise compiled his longest Test innings for his maiden ton while Adam Gilchrist also batted long enough for a century. On the contrary, the West Indians Lara, Samuels, Sarwan, Carlton Baugh Jr all had sparkling innings but did not bat long enough to hurt Australia. Even Ganga should have gone on for more than his 117.
The good batting conditions were there for the taking and should be capitalised on all times. The Australians are world champions because they always apply the kill instinct.