Twenty-two year-old Guyanese Ramnaresh Sarwan recorded his first half-century as West Indies vice captain and 15th in his 32nd test match yesterday to keep the home team's hopes alive of drawing the match today.
The West Indies, following on, are 187-3 in their second innings needing another 90 runs to aviod an innings defeat on a two pace track with unpredictable bounce. Sarwan was unbeaten on 58 at the close yesterday. With him was skipper Brian Lara on 41 and their unfinished fourth wicket stand was already worth 93 runs.
Sarwan told reporters yesterday afternoon he was pleased to get a fifty, his second against Australia, since he had not played much since the World Cup.
"I am pretty pleased with the way I have batted since I have not played much cricket in a while. The pitch did not play much different from the way it played yesterday (Saturday). It was keeping low and two paced, you had to be patient and watch the ball closely. Brian and myself did that today (yesterday) and we hope to adopt the same policy tomorrow (today)" Sarwan said.
Sarwan feels confident that the West Indies can hold on for a draw today although the track is expected to be at it's worst.
"We are in a position where we don't have much of a choice and I am pretty confident that we can draw the game. We are pleased to have Brian out there and if we can bat out the first session and then take it to lunch we can draw the game," Sarwan disclosed.
He pointed out that his side has no plans to try to win the match but added that they will assess the position at lunch.
"We will assess our chances by lunch and see if there is a possibility to win from there. But it will be very difficult to win a test match from this position. I don't think we have any plans to win, we will take it session by session from here," Sarwan stated.
The stylish right-hander said he was extremely disappointed with the Barbados pitch.
"The Trinidad pitch stood up well while we expect the Guyana track to favor batting. But really...you expect bounce and some pace in Barbados and the pitch here was unfortunate for cricket."
Sarwan feels that in hindsight Australia got the better of the pitch when Lara won the toss and put them in.
"They got the better of the pitch but those things do happen and we sometimes can't always look back...we have to look ahead and try to save this game from here," Sarwan said.
Sarwan, who is hoping to record his second test ton on a ground he began his test career on against Pakistan three years ago, said batting the Australian bowlers on any pitch is difficult and he expects the job to be harder today.
"Playing them on any pitch will be difficult not only this pitch. They are pretty consistent and we have to be patient," opined Sarwan, who said all the bowlers will be tough to bat today without singling out anyone.
Sarwan has never captained any major team except in 1997 and 1998 when he led Guyana at the youth level and his inexperience showed when he had to lead the side when Lara left the field on Friday.
When asked what it was like to lead the team, Sarwan said with a chuckle. "Actually it was kind of strange leading the team and I was looking for my team mates to help me out.
"When I am on the field I know where I am fielding and I don't usually look to see where the others are fielding. Chris pointed out to me that there where a few gaps in the field and that I was supposed to be the one setting the guys. That was kind of strange.
"But I guess I will learn from experience and maybe captain Guyana." Sarwan informed that he knew Lara was feeling better and was going to bat yesterday.
"Lara spoke to the manager at lunch and said he was well enough to bat at five if we did not lose too many wickets by tea."
Sarwan has been dismissed to some lose shots in the recent past but assured that he never intends to give his hand away when he is batting. He added that it was very unfortunate that he gets out. He promised to always try his best whenever he goes out to bat for any team.
Asked if he had been given any advice from former captain Carl Hooper Sarwan said that he has not been contacted by his countryman since the series began. "I have not spoken to him in ages and I don't even know where he is to be honest", he said.