Re-called opener Chris Gayle and fellow left hander Devon Smith put together 89 runs in an unfinished first wicket stand to give the West Indies some hope of challenging the massive 605-9 declared made by Australia on the second day of the third test yesterday at Kensinton Oval.
The West Indies openers were hardly bothered by the pace of Bret Lee or Glen McGrath on the low, slow track while there was slow turn for leg spinner Stuart McGill.
Already 2-nill up in the four test series Waugh is hoping to become the first captain to white wash the West Indies in the Caribbean and break the record of 36 victories held by Clive Lloyd.
Waugh who has 35 victories as captain said he is still hopeful of gaining victory in this test but concedes it will be hard work on this pitch.
“ Of the 159 test matches I have played this is the slowest pitch I have ever played on. It is too one sided and I am very disappointed with the pitch here. I don’t know how you will produce quicks in the West Indies if you play on pitches like this” Waugh told reporters after the game.
Waugh who scored his 30th test ton in his 159 test match to go ahead of the legendary Sir Donald Bradman said it was nice to pass Bradman’s record of centuries for Australia but reminded that he has played 107 more test than the great Australian.
Waugh has played at 41 test venues in every test playing country except Bangladesh.
Bradman held the record for most test tons by an Australian for 48 years. He scored 29 hundreds from 52 test matches in the days of uncovered pitches and bodyline bowling.
“This was not my best innings, I felt like I had not batted for a while. It was a bit difficult to score quickly on this type of track. I won’t have this (most centuries for Australia) for long with the way Ricky (Ponting) who has 17 hundreds, is going. I am just a care taker of the record so to speak” the Australian skipper said.
“I still think an outright win is possible. We are still playing to win and I would hope the West Indies are too. I would be disappointed if they are just playing for a draw from this stage” Waugh disclosed.
The right hander who became the sixth Australian to score a hundred in this series with his 113 said he was pleased with his team’s first innings score.
“This (605-9 declared) was a nice amount to get but I would have been satisfied with about 550. The runs were not so important as the time. We wanted to bowl 20 overs tonight (yesterday afternoon). We got some quick runs this evening and that helped us to really
set them a big score” Waugh revealed.
The Aussie skipper pointed out that he was hoping to pick up two wickets yesterday and feels the pitch will be very hard to bat on the fifth day.
“In the Barbados you expect the ball to be flying around your ears and the crowd getting involved but this pitch was really slow and the ball is already keeping low which can’t be good for the game”
Waugh lamented.
“After we read in the papers that Lara wanted to chase a victory target we decided to bat a bit longer today and try to shut them out of the game” Waugh said.
Waugh feels the West Indian bowlers did not bowl too
badly.
“They are a young bunch and you have got to give them time. It was hard bowling on such a flat track against a quality batting line up like Australia’s.
“I think they tried and they should learn what test cricket is all about” The 36-year-old from New South Wales said.
No West Indies representative attended the post day press conference as the team manager Ricky Skerret reportedly made the decision not to have anyone from his team present.
This is the second time in the series that the West Indies players have shunned the press after the same thing occurred in the first test in Guyana.