Although they are back to full strength following the end of the players’ strike that led to a weakened replacement team that lost to Bangladesh and was knocked out in the first round of the Champions Trophy in September, Dyson, the former Australian opening batsman, did not believe they would be a threat.
“You can’t see that happening,” he told the Sydney Sunday Telegraph. “Because of the lack of cricket and the preparation that they’ve had, it’s going to be a difficult summer. They just haven’t played enough serious cricket. Most of them have been on strike. They’re going to have to find form very quickly.’‘
Lara, holder of the world record scores in Tests and first-class matches and three times West Indies captain, said on a visit to Australia last month that he feared ‘the West Indies “could be in for a bit of a hiding”. Lara said.
But Dyson, who replaced fellow Australian David Moore as coach in 2007, did back the controversial reinstatement of Chris Gayle as captain. “Chris over the past two years has been fantastic in all forms of the game with his performances on the field and I’m sure he’ll give 100 per cent,” he said.
Dyson was in charge when the West Indies reclaimed the Wisden Trophy from England in the Caribbean earlier this year. But he is concerned about the structure of the game in the region and doubts it can recover.
“You look at that great era they had (they did not lose a Test series between 1980 and 1995) and what a fantastic team it was, they were just blessed at that particular time with a team of great players,” he stated. “But given the way everyone else has progressed and the West Indies haven’t, it’s difficult to see that ever happening again.”
“Everyone else has moved forward but the West Indies are stuck in the past,” he added. “They haven’t caught up with their competitions. They need to look at the whole structure at grass-roots level and start all over again. But that won’t happen.”
He described West Indies cricket as shambolic and pointed to recent conflict between players and the board as evidence of the problems.
“Regional cricket is played on very poor wickets and they practise on very poor wickets,” he said. “There are some good players spread around there but there are so many problems, as seen with the industrial strike that they’ve just had.”
The West Indies start their tour with a four-day match against state team, Queensland, at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Wednesday, the only match outside the three Tests.
The first Test is at the Gabba in Brisbane, starting November 26. The second Test is in Adelaide December 4-8 and the third in Perth December 16-20. (TC)
