– Looking to score a century for mom
West Indies captain Chris Gayle flew back into Brisbane from Kingston yesterday, targeting a hundred for his team and especially for his ill mother, Heazlyn, in the first Test against Australia that starts at the Gabba in Brisbane tomorrow (8pm tonight east Caribbean time).
When one of his fans asked him on his internet ‘twitter.com’ page whether he would dedicate a hundred to his mother, whose hospitalisation for a heart condition prompted his return home last week, Gayle replied: “Need 1 for mom for sure. lol the rest for y’all”.
Essential to the team as leader and power-hitting left-handed opener with 5,502 runs in 82 Tests at an average of 39.58, Gayle has left himself 36 hours to shake off his jet-lag before he walks on to the Gabba for the toss with Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting.
He revealed on his ‘twitter’ page that he would have made it earlier but claimed he had to abandon plans to fly by private jet as the pilot was drunk and took a commercial flight instead.
Known by his team mates for his impish sense of humour, the entry could well have been a typical Gayle prank.
Before leaving Kingston, Gayle said his mother’s discharge from hospital is “the best news anyone could get”.
“I am really happy that my mom is back home and that she is able to move around and also that she is in good spirits,” he added. “I now want to focus on handling business in Australia and fulfilling my obligations to the team.”
Once on the field, it will be serious business for Gayle and a team seeking the West Indies’ first Test win in Australia since 1997 when Courtney Walsh’s team, already beaten in the series, won the fifth and final Test in Perth by 10 wickets.
That Australia have not been beaten at the Gabba since thrashed by nine wickets by the West Indies in 1988 highlights the magnitude of the task.
With only five players in the squad with previous experience of Australia, only one, Daren Bravo at Hobart four years ago, with a Test hundred in Australia, and Adrian Barath, a 19-year-old on debut as Gayle’s opening partner, the West Indies have been widely written off without a chance in the three Tests – as Australia used to be during the West Indies decade of domination in the 1980s.
Yet Australia have lost three of their last four Test series – to India in India a year ago, South Africa in Australia last December and January and England in England last summer – and West Indies coach David Williams, vice-captain Denesh Ramdin and fast bowler Jerome Taylor have all described them as “beatable”.
Williams and Ramdin identified Australia’s inexperienced bowling as a potential weakness.
“We’ve had a good look at the Australian bowling attack, and we’ve felt it is not as experienced as the previous attacks,’‘ Williams said.
Ramdin acknowledged that Australia “has a great side” but pointed out that they have lost some key bowlers (Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz through retirement and Brett Lee through injury).
“They are certainly not as experienced in their bowling at the moment as compared with teams in the past,” he said.
Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus are the fast bowlers in the squad of 12 with off-spinner Nathan Hauritz the only spinner.
Williams dismissed suggestions that, should Gayle win the toss on Thursday, they could opt to field first to give the captain additional time to recuperate from his latest long-haul flight.
“We’re not going to make a decision based on one guy,” he said. “If we get to the Gabba and we have a look in the morning and we feel it’s feasible for us to bat then so be it.”
Gayle is no stranger to making last minute entries into a Test.
Last May. he arrived in England from South Africa two days before the first Test against London at Lord’s after the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) granted permission to extend his stint in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was dismissed for 28 and 0.
Because of a leg muscle injury, he was in doubt up to an hour before his first Test as captain South Africa in 2007. He decided to play and immediately hit 69 off 49 balls to kick-start what became a famous victory.
“He’s getting used to it,” Williams quipped. “Chris has done this before and he knows what is before him. It’s just a matter of getting acclimatised as quickly as possible.”
Even the opposition is pleased Gayle is back.
“It’s great to see him coming back to the country,” Australia’s vice captain Michael Clarke said. “He’s a fantastic player. He’s got so much talent and I think he’ll be great for the public, to see him get out there and perform and do what he does best. He scores freely and hits the ball a long way.”
Wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, back in the Test team after a layoff for a broken finger, warned Australia about underestimating the West Indies.
“They are one of those teams that are very, very unpredictable, they are hard to prepare for, you don’t know what you are going to get on the day,” he said. “You can get a world-class team that are high in spirit and plays great cricket or you can get the other end.”
Teams:
Australia (from): Ricky Ponting (captain), Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Michael Hussey, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.
West Indies (from): Chris Gayle (captain), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor, Gavin Tonge.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan), Ian Gould (England), Third umpire: Mark Benson (England). Match referee: Chris Broad.
NB: Umpires’ review system in operation.
Weather forecast: Clear. High temperature: 27 °C . (TC).
