5 things West Indies need to do to cause an upset against Australia

Battles between West Indies and Australia in the late 20^th century, when both teams were jostling to be called the best side in Test cricket, used to be looked forward to with huge anticipation. Both teams had some attacking batsmen and a battery of express bowlers at their disposal and used to never hold back an inch when taking on each other.

However, with the West Indies having faded as a force in recent years, there haven’t been any memorable contests between the two proud cricketing nations of late.

Hopefully, the West Indies showing some resurgence in their recent series against England can pave the way for a gripping contest when the two sides square off in the first Test starting on June 3. There is no doubt, however, that Australia will go into the series as overwhelming favourites.

Here are 5 things West Indies need to do to cause an upset:

1. Youngsters need to step up to the occasion

Jermaine Blackwood’s performances against England were impressive

West Indies have invited quite a lot of criticism for dropping the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the series. While it is undoubtedly going to take some time for them to replace a player of Chanderpaul’s class, they can be encouraged by the fact that some of their younger players are showing promise. Players like Kraigg Brathwaite, Jermaine Blackwood and Jason Holder were in good form during the recent series against England at home, where they managed a 1-1 draw.

Brathwaite scored a well-crafted century in the second Test and rightly earned a lot of plaudits, even though his innings came in a losing cause. Blackwood, meanwhile, was one of the best performers in the series as he aggregated 311 runs in the 3 Test matches. His knocks of 85 and 47 in the third Test led them to a historic victory on what was by no means an easy surface for the batsmen. If the young players can step up to the plate, they might prove to be a match for the Australians.

2. Take advantage of Australia’s fallibility against spin bowling

The pitches in the West Indies have been more conducive to spin bowling than pace bowling in the past 5 to 6 years. If there is one weakness that the Australians have at the moment, it is their inability to play well against the spinners.

Apart from Michael Clarke and Steven Smith, most of their other players are susceptible against spin. Despite being once again on the rise as a unit in the last couple of years, they have been found woefully short of the required standards when they have played on spin-friendly surfaces. In 2013, they were humiliated to a 4-0 whitewash at the hands of India and then followed it up with a 2-0 defeat to Pakistan, who were without Saeed Ajmal, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last year.

While it is uncertain as to who will be West Indies’ frontline spinner for the series, whoever they pick should enjoy a fair amount of success on helpful surfaces against an uncertain batting line-up.

3. Jerome Taylor’s has to continue recent form

Jerome Taylor

Since making a comeback into the West Indian team in June 2014, fast bowler Jerome Taylor has been in great form as he has taken 32 wickets in the 10 matches that he has played. Even in the recent Test series against England, he took 11 wickets and was the second highest wicket-taker of the series, behind England’s James Anderson.

Taylor needs to lead the bowling attack from the front as he is one of the most experienced bowlers in the team. If he can get players like David Warner and Smith out early, the other bowlers will receive a huge boost and can put pressure on the Australian batting. Kemar Roach and Jason Holder also have the ability to cause some damage, but they need to be more consistent with their bowling.

4. Captaincy battle

Australian skipper Michael Clarke is regarded as one of the best captains in International cricket at the moment. Apart from being a brilliant batsman with the ability to lead by example, he is a brilliant tactician and believes in putting pressure on the opposition at all times.

On the back of leading his side to World Cup victory, Clarke will be extremely determined to continue the success he has had as captain, especially with the Ashes series in England shortly following the West Indies tour.

On the other hand, West Indies skipper Denesh Ramdin is still relatively new to the job, but there were some positive signs in their 1-1 draw against England. If West Indies are to have even a small chance of upsetting the Aussies, Ramdin will have to try and outdo Clarke as captain.

5. West Indies batsmen need to nullify the danger of Johnson and Starc

Mitchell Johnson’s Test form over the last 18 months has been exceptional

The pair of Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Stac can prove be the most lethal bowling combination in any form of cricket due to the pace and bounce they extract from the pitch. Their records speak for themselves as Johnson has taken 78 wickets in his last 13 Test matches whereas Mitchell Starc was the player of the tournament in the recently concluded World Cup as he took 22 wickets at an astounding average of 10.8.

Along with the youngsters, senior batsmen like Darren Bravo and Maron Samuels need to ensure that they don’t let Johnson and Starc get on top of them. If these bowlers get wickets early in their spell, it could be hard for the West Indies to stop them.