Australia v West Indies 2024: First Test Adelaide – Day 1: A day of interesting cricket

 

Day 1 in Adelaide

 

Into the unknown this morning as Australia take on a virtually unknown West Indies team.

 

The sword of Damocles has been hanging over West Indies cricket for soemtime now and with the majority of their ‘top’ players chasing the dollar this side is virtually a seconds eleven.

 

Remembering the past might of the Islanders it is a sad decline that has been years in the making. Is this their last hurrah?

 

The indifference of the media has also been a major player here in Oz and only half a dozen regulars can be seen floating around.

 

It will be interesting to see how the day unfurls after Cummins wins the toss and sends the minnows in to bat on a flexi-green wicket  Not that the openers are minnows. Brathwaite  (87 tests) and Chanderpaul the Younger (8) with a wonderful pedigree. They are their most experienced batters and opening the firing line.

 

Seven players have played 15 Tests between them and the other four Brathwaite, A.Joseph(30), Roach (79) and da Silva (22) a total of 218.

 

The ball is moving and all three pace men have beaten the bat on numerous occasions without any luck.

 

Chanderpaul tries a flourishing drive from Cummins and edges the ball high to gully for Green to take. Wonderful fielder in this position and he doesn’t miss much if anything.

 

A ripper from the skipper clean bowls Brathwaite. It would have bowled anyone. The two most experienced batters gone and only 27 on the board.

 

Virtual newcomers in McKenzie (1 test) and Athanaze (2) are looking tenative as expected but are still there when the score passes 50.  Is this the first time in a test match that 2 players with a ‘Z’ in their surnames have batted together?

 

Apparently not as the wise man Geoffrey Lemon informed me. Afriz and Rizwan only recently.  GL also said that the last 4 South Africans who made their debut also had Z in their surnames. That’s what occurs when you think you are smart.

 

Athanaze lets one go from Hazlewood. Number 38, the most accurate bowler in world cricket!  Well, he will learn by experience. 3/52.

 

Don’t know why Marnus L bothers to get his trousers cleaned at the end of the day. Seems like he has green swathes on them from the first over.

 

As expected, there is some fight from the visitors but the wickets keep falling at regular intervals.  Hazlewood has the last 3 and another fine catch by Green amongst them.

 

Kirk McKenzie in his second Test match made a good 50 and looks like he could be a player of the future.

 

Head, in front of his adoring home crowd, took a fine diving catch to dismiss Da Silva hooking Cummins  (3/33). Cummins and Hazlewood (4/21) have all the wickets at this stage and the tyros are finding them too hot to handle.

 

It has been a demolition since lunch and in 90 minutes the visitors lost 6/69 such is the difference in the two teams.

 

New chum Shamar Joseph is defiant and takes 10 runs from Hazlewood in one over and Roach gets into Lyon on his return at the other end. Joseph does it again hitting Hazelwood out of the ground.

 

A very pleasant last wicket stand by these two players to make the score look a bit more respectable and despite the debacle earlier in this session they are still there at tea Joseph (31) and Roach (11) and the score 9/177.

 

Roach brings up the 50 partnership with another huge six, this time of Lyon.

 

Lyon snares Roach and the innings is all over for 188. Roach (17) and Shamus Joseph  36 n.o.  Cummins and Hazlewood 4 wickets apiece with Lyon and Starc snaring 1 each.

 

Khawaja dropped behind in second over! How will this play out? Uzzie usually rides his luck pretty well.

 

The ‘new’ opener is already attacking and hooks A.Joseph for a couple of fours. He will probably succeed and the selectors will feel like puffer fishes.

 

It has been a magnificent day for cricket and the crowd could have been higher in attendance.  There are no excuses for not attending other than what has been written in the wind by pundits of the game and the inferior (not my words) opposition.

 

Shamar Joseph is on a high today!  With his first ball he has Smith (12) magnificnetly caught by Greaves in the slips. The ensuing 100 metre dash is worthy of Usain Bolt.

 

Love to hear what the Oz selectors say about that dismissal. Could it be the SPD has cooked his own goose by insisting on opening the innings.  What if Green scores big runs?  That word ‘if’ again.

 

Labuschagne brings up 4000 runs in Test cricket with the shot of the day through mid-wicket for four.  He has been a wonderful batter for Australia since his first appearance in 2018. His runs have come in 46 matches at the top.

 

The West Indies bowlers have not given much away during their time in the field and have maintained a heavy slips cordon throughout.

 

Shamar continues his day out when Marnus (10) hooks and Motie marks on the boundary. Me thinks Marnus took it too easily ‘hooking before he was 100’ to quote DGB.

 

The highlight of the day comes when an attendant picks up three pieces of paper after Uzzie had done the ’emu parade’. It has been an interesting day’s play and it took something special to raise the voices of the crowd.

 

A surprisingly good crowd of 26,361 attended the day’s play despite all the gloom and doom, yours truly included. Know doubt there will be more in attendance tomorrow when Australia continue their innings.

 

Australia go to stumps at 2/59 with Uzzie, making the most of his let off on 30 and Green 6. The player-of-the-day Shamar Joseph on debut has both wickets at a cost of 18 runs.

 

Now for the headlines!

 

More from Citrus Bob can be read Here

 

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