MELBOURNE, Australia, CMC – Aussie coach Tim Nielsen says his charges will not be underestimating the West Indies when they come calling on their three-Test tour here later this month.
Torn apart by a bitter contracts dispute, the Windies are expected to face a tough challenge regrouping but Nielsen said he expected them to be dangerous side, especially with the leading players included.
“With (Chris) Gayle back and [Ramnaresh] Sarwan and (Shiv) Chanderpaul and [Dwayne] Bravo, those sort of guys, they’ve got most of the top six they’d normally have playing again,” said Nielsen.
“So we’ll need to bowl well and catch well to make sure that we attack those guys because we know if they get ‘in’ they score quickly and get big scores,” Nielsen told the Melbourne Age. The impasse saw the top tier players refuse to play, forcing selectors to choose a second string side for the Bangladesh tour and the ICC Champions Trophy.
Following the end of the dispute last month, a full strength 15-man squad was selected for the Australian tour, with Gayle appointed captain.
It includes four players from the makeshift side but Nielsen said he did not expect West Indies to be a disjointed unit.
“I think they’ll be cohesive. I noticed in the media the other day someone was mentioning that it’s difficult when the admin’s not always seeing eye-to-eye with the playing group, and that’s obviously been happening for a period now,” he said.
Australia have already been installed as heavy favourites to win the rubber, with West Indies having not taken a series win against the World champions in 15 years.
Their last series win came when Richie Richardson led his side to a 2-1 win in the five-Test rubber here in the 1992/93 series.