 Yeah, Cricket Loved the Cricket is where we start this Thursday edition of the Sportsmax Zone. Australia are in sight of victory in the first test against the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval. The winners produced a respectable bowling performance but then failed to follow up with the bat in their second innings putting the Aussies in a good position for a day three result. The winners resumed day two on 59 foot two in their first innings replying to 188 main point the Caribbean side. Here's Jeroed Marseille with the day two recap. As Australia's number four and Usman Kouwaj and Craig Prythwaite, who saw... Guyanese speedster Shamar Joseph picked up where he left off on day one producing a gem of a delivery to get rid of Camel Green for 14. That was the catalyst for a successful session in the field. Justin Grey is removing Usman Kouwajer for 45 and the Kimar Roach taking care of Mitch Marsh for five limiting the Aussies to 85 for three as they went to lunch at five for 144. After lunch the Caribbean side continued to plug away. Grey's maybe the surprise package ended with two for 36. The right arm median getting rid of Alice Keary, Joshua De Silva holding on this time a neat catch as well. Thanks for 168 at that stage West Indies may be even harboring hopes of an unlikely first in his lead. But the number five batsman Travis Head was going about his business in fine style. The left handed adding 54 for the seventh wicket with a middle stark before Shamar Joseph struck again the 24 year old getting his fourth wicket by removing Stark for 10. There was no stopping head though. He'd bring up his second hundred against the Windies. The left hander went on to a top score of 119 coming off 134 deliveries before Azami Joseph had him caught by Kevin Hodge and then it was time for Shamar Joseph to bring up a milestone of his own. Australia eventually bowed out for 283 a first in his lead of 95. Sadly for the Windies though their batting lineup could not replicate the brilliance of their bowlers and again Josh Hazel would prove too much to handle snatching the first four wickets. It started with Tate and Ray Shandepal for a duck and then captain Brathwood for one. One for two became seven for three when Alec Atheneys also fell for a duck before Kevin Hodge was sent back for three at four for 19. Kirk McKenzie struck four fours in his 26 a top score so far but fell softly by picking out Labushain at short cover Cameron Green with his first wicket of the match West Indies 5 for 40. Graves got 24 but was undone by Nathan Lyon on review that turning out to be the last action of the day the silver unbeaten on 17 West Indies 6 for 73 22 runs away from making Australia bat again. Yeah very much the case Australia in control of the test match Lance and Mariah and as I pointed out earlier thought the West Indies actually bowled well I think they can be extremely proud of the bowling performance led by Shamar Joseph of course but all the bowlers I thought had a good day Justin Graves as Gerard pointed out in that wrap quite likely the surprise package I was impressed with how he bowled as well 15 overs two for 36. Good a cashmoty not quite in the contest but it's early days for the spinner maybe but overall a very good bowling performance from this unit. Yeah I have to agree with you there Ricardo all the bowlers did what they had to do and I was about to bring up that point about good a cashmoty because I know a lot of our team members feels as if you know they expect to see good a cashmoty not only be an economical but of course among the wicket takers and of course we did not get to see that so far but Ricardo has been very lenient and he says that what did you say to the team Ricardo that it's okay because his wickets are going to come right. Yeah I think good a cashmoty is a quality border and I think part of the problem and it has been a problem with Caribbean cricket supporters over the years that once you bring a spinner into the lineup you expect them to take five wickets every single match or every single innings and you've got to give them time and you've got to give more to time it's the first innings of one match where he did not take any wickets my goodness me give the guy a break. Yeah but can I just add I'm one of those viewers of cricket like when I see a spinner come on I instantly believe that I'm gonna get wickets right not discussing more to you anything in that situation but I'm just saying like when I see a spinner come on and I think we've been spoiled by like Sunil Narayan and they so like when you see a spinner come on to the field you expect that and then good a cashmoty the quality that he has displayed previously it's just something it's natural to expect that. Yeah well Faz as always said that spinners aren't given a fair break in in West Indies cricket because of the tradition of the four prong pace attack and the success that West Indies boss bowlers over time have had so that that has been a problem but I do I do agree with the point that the bowlers did a good job it's just that the batsmen weren't able to replicate. Yeah and by the way quickly Lance that's I think a ridiculous way to look at it right because if you think about it how many fast bowlers have you seen play test matches and gone for one for 100 one for 90 odd one for 80 odd. They're usually forgiven. They are forgiven because oh they have some pace and people believe that once you have some pace sooner or later you're gonna be bowling down teams. It's the same way in football that once you have a player who is willing to do a couple of shifts here and there and run up the field whether or not they have an end product everybody goes yeah man that one has tremendous talent rubbish. Let's get Fazir Muhammad in on this discussion not the football discussion but the cricket discussion and the performance of the West Indies on day number two Fazir Muhammad who are you doing? I hope you're in a good mood. Well let's put it this way if the mood depending on the fortunes of the West Indies have been a terrible but this is one of the realities of the modern era especially when the West Indies are in Australia. How many were assessed day number two of this test match Faz? It was a day of two halves from a West Indies point of view because I thought that first session was outstanding with the way the West Indies fought that the thinking the process not just the wickets taken by Shamar Joseph but that process in which we saw Justin Graves first get a wicket himself and then come in closer and closer in that third slip position because of the lack of bounce to Kim Har Rouge and the way they worked it out was absolutely brilliant but again it's about sustaining it. Sustaining it. Travis Head is the type of player he always looks like he's going to get out yet he always seems to really get on top of the bowling once he survives and that made all the difference because we I think we always suspected any sort of lead 50 plus closer to 100 as it turned out would be a worry for the West Indies and therefore what happened in that final session when the West Indies capitulating so badly really wasn't all that surprising it's very much in keeping with what we've seen so very often from the West Indies at home and especially abroad. Yeah and I guess some would say if the West Indies could dismiss Australia for 283 then things would always be more difficult for them having only scored 188 in the first innings but I want to give a lot of credit to the West Indies boarding attack fans because we have seen in the past and even speaking specifically to tours in Australia where the Australians have gotten a ton load of runs and the West Indies batsmen haven't been able to follow suit and or bowling was poor as well but that wasn't the case last night I wonder as well how much credit you would give to the captain Craig Brathwaite and how well he shepherded the the bowling lineup on a helpful surface but against the high quality Australian batting lineup Craig Brathwaite has always come in for criticism for being too cautious I lacking in any innovation being too defensive very much in the mindset of his batting at the top of the order but I think this time around you have to give him credit as I mentioned that that the way they worked out that this missile of of marsh and and really just generally the way he used his resources yes the talk will be about Moti but again I think you all covered that that ground very effectively so there's no need to go there I thought he did quite well and the important thing lady and gentlemen is to understand once again that when you're playing just two test matches and you you're struggling the early ones as it very only happened for the West Indies there's no coming back whereas if you were playing three tests or four tests or five tests and I had matches in between which doesn't happen anymore we appreciate that reality but we also appreciate the manner in which the game has now gone where only Australia England and India play five test series that there's really no room for these players to develop their skills in an Australian setting in test much cricket probably for the next five or six five or six years because West cities are not in demand anymore and and therefore you have that situation so really it is one in which the players have limited scope limited opportunity to to really develop themselves in these circumstances in these conditions and as you said quite correctly just over a year ago the West Indies were in Australia for two test matches and the Aussies batted for virtually the first two days of those tests and one comfortably in the end so this bowling effort was certainly very very commendable yeah and Fazz just to move away a bit now from the bowling effort you touched on it briefly when you spoke about Craig Brasswick being cautious of course you know when batting and of course making his decisions as captain what did you make of the manner of the dismissals for the Windy's batsmen a number of different things here Barai first and foremost and we've talked about Josh Hazelwood already you know that is the line he's going to bow and again change around Chanderpolt played at it got the outside edge maybe a bit slow reacting we saw that in the dismissal as well of Kevin Hodge he seemed to be on the move going into the drive and therefore edge to slip uh Bradford he does play that way and again credit to the Australians because he does have that jerky stodgy we are playing pushing hard forward it got a bit of sea movement took the the interface of the bat and was a very good catch taken certainly for Travis Head he was quite some distance away and short like that allowed him to react but still it was a very good catch but overall what you're seeing again is a situation where players with talent players obviously with ability with shot making ability but lack the know-how of batting for long periods lack that that comprehensive understanding based on actual match experience of what is required to take on this type of disciplined bowling for for long periods because getting caught at extra cover short extra cover as happened to Mackenzie these sorts of situations speak to that that lack of awareness of the situation that you're in where basically you've got to occupy the crease yes you've got to score runs but you've got to be mindful of the situation that you're facing as we saw with that hook shot from Anthony's and then there that point I was making about Kevin Hodge not really being to the pitch of the ball and driving the Aussies will eat you up breakfast lunch and dinner playing like that so again it's about whether or not these players will have the opportunity to benefit from this exposure because it's going to be a heavy deep likely as well in the second test match in Brisbane next week will they be able to really have the chance to benefit from this sort of exposure yeah and as you know I want to backpedal just a bit because as things now stand there is hardly any positives for the Westerners outside of how diligently the bowler the bowlers took on the the task yesterday and I want to emphasize that without Travis Head's innings this game could have looked completely different we talk about in batting partnerships being being the key but there weren't many significant partnerships because the best partnership the Aussies had would have been the stand between Stark and Travis Head only 54 runs and outside of Travis's century I think Kowarja with 45 was the next best scorer I'm saying that to say that outside of Travis Head's pivotal hundred this game could look completely different it could have but the point is and again as you mentioned Kowarja remember he was dropped from three yes relatively straight forward chance to Joshua the Silver so so again it's about really grasping your opportunities I thought the West Indies balled well yes I really not just Shamar Drew's one credit to him as well I think Shamar Drew's it is going to be a real shining light whether it's for the West Indies or some franchise is going to snap him up the fact that he took a bow to the audience after taking the five book at all tells me that this is a young man who loves the big stage he's not overwrought by it he's not daunted by it you're hearing a lot of condescending remarks about him coming from the world from the bush and the being scared of heights and being afraid of an escalator all sorts of comments but I think if you cast all of that aside you've got here another case of a young player with an appetite for the big stage and therefore the concern will be maybe some franchise might want to snap him up but to get back to your specific point Lance I think the West Indies bowling if you think about it when you think of the resources that are available if Jaden Seals gets fully fit once again and challenges Kim Auroch for his place you've got there the resources that could have the West Indies consistently competitive but again Lance it depends on whether or not the authorities will prepare surfaces in the Caribbean that will be similarly encouraging and you know that has been a constant bugbear and therefore there are many angles to this particular discussion but yes to your specific point the West Indies bowlers I think did themselves immense credit with the way they performed in the first place yeah and I just want to emphasize the point that we've already made about the kind of star quality that we're seeing from Shamar Joseph because I got the distinct impression to when he got his first wicket an illustration there that his teammates love him because that catch by Justin Graves at slip was a tremendous catch it was a brilliant catch and when he took it none of his teammates went to him everyone ran directly to Shamar Joseph and it was to me an indicator that his teammates love him and there is a a kind of impact that he has made immediately with this team that he has endeared himself to not only his teammates but as you said as illustrated by his bow to the to the to the to the fans that he does have some star quality about him and I think um he could not have asked for a better start to his career internationally absolutely and therefore whoever's around him whoever's guiding him whoever's ever mentoring him whether it's back home in Barakara whether it's at Georgetown whether it's with the squad right now whether there's any mentor that he looks up to they should remind him as Rohan Kanhai reminded Brian Lara after his 277 in the Sydney test match of 1993 that their next inning starts at zero and therefore his next spell starts at note for note and it could be a very different experience so so therefore it's about yes enjoying the moment enjoying the the adulation reveling in the conditions which he hardly would have ever experienced anywhere in the Caribbean which he did of course in South Africa which is why he was so successful but ultimately it's about someone who wants to be part of the action and when you have someone like that who is not overwrought by the challenge who yearns for the contest and revels in the atmosphere that is someone you think can go very very far in the game whether internationally for the Western days or as as always seems more than likely now with some franchise somewhere in the world well Fazir Muhammad we surely hope that his next spell does not start in the second test because that would mean that the West Indies would likely have lost my innings in this opening match and it would be over by lunch on day number three and we're hoping that it will go beyond lunch of course Fazir we had predicted that it would end in three days I don't know if Lance and Mariah still think that we will go to a fourth day that would require some heroics maybe from Shamar Joseph at number 11 but it looks as if we're on course to be right Fazir not that I'm gloating he is no you never you never gloat at all you know just very quickly when this happens when the West Indies are six weeks down for next to nothing very often against Australia we all stages always remember a seventh wicked partnership of 347 unbroken against Australia in 1955 the first match the two Nicosia ever covered as a 15 year old junior so even as unlikely as it is we live in hope thank you for that Fazir thank you very much Fazir for giving Lance and Mariah and the entire West Indies hope let's go to a break on the sportsman zone we'll be back with more