One of the two West Indian bright spots, from an otherwise dark outing at Hobart, where they suffered an innings defeat inside three days, Darren Bravo, has said that despite the poor show so far on the tour, the confidence that they gained from the two-day game against Victoria XI might just be the thing they needed for the Boxing Day clash at the MCG.
Looking at the West Indian scorecard from the game, the merits of having a two-day practice match can be given an afterthought, as the Caribbean batsmen found enough time to spend at the crease on day 1, and sufficient overs to bowl on day 2.
"It's just a matter of confidence," Bravo said. "Coming into this series, most of our batsmen didn't really have that confidence. We lost the series in Sri Lanka, we lost the practice game as well in Brisbane. It's a matter of confidence.
"It's very important we look at the positives. In the practice game, young Blackwood played pretty well, as well as Kraigg Brathwaite. The bowlers had a very good run, including Jerome Taylor. The guys are putting in the work, it's just a matter of us going out there and executing."
The West Indies have indeed been lacking in confidence of late, as before this tour, in Sri Lanka as well, none of their batsmen could score a century in two Tests, and Bravo along with Jermaine Blackwood were the only ones who managed fifties.
They followed it up with a humbling defeat against Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane, a team with no first-class experience whatsoever, which was made worse by the senior side, when a record partnership between Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh batted them out of the game.
Notwithstanding all of this, their performance at South Geelong against Victoria XI was encouraging to be honest. Kriagg Brathwaite, who got 94 in the second innings at Hobart, showed signs of form as he backed it up with a 78 at the top of the order while Jermaine Blackwood made 69.
Marlon Samuels and Denesh Ramdin also spent time out in the middle and played some decent shots for their scores of 45 and 38 respectively. The Windies finished on 303/8 on day 1. Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach bowled decently on day 2, while leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo picked up two wickets.
"It's important that whenever we go to bat we spend some time out in the middle. If we spend time, we're definitely going to score runs.
“Naturally we play aggressive cricket where batting is concerned. It's just a matter of us spending time out in the middle and putting up a very good fight,” said Bravo, who did not bat at Geelong.
Stressing upon the first session of the Hobart Test, the southpaw said that his team was in control at lunch on day 1, in a session that was easy to forget, after what Voges and Marsh did in the next two.
Australia were 121/3 and it was relatively easy for the visitors to capitalise on that, but they gave their chances away. "It's very important that whenever we're in the driver's seat we try and stay there," Bravo said.
"I remember in the first Test match we had Australia three for 100 or something like that. We were in the driver's seat and we let loose. We need to maintain the momentum in the game."
Speaking about the Australian bowling attack, he said that the key to facing them is backing your abilities and not being intimidated by them. Knowing from his experience in Hobart, he knows that opportunities would present themselves.
"The Australian bowlers, they have a plan exactly how they want to get us out," he said. "You respect the good balls and put away the bad balls. Yes, they are a very good team but at the end of the day, they are still humans.
“They're going to present bad balls and it's just a matter of putting it away. I don't think you should be bogged down too much.
“Don't be intimidated by the Australian bowlers. Just back yourself and your ability.”
He backed his team-mates before the game and said that all of them are capable enough to play at the international level, and the resilience to handle pressure. "When you're not scoring runs it is difficult to pick yourself up. I believe the guys have that sort of resilience in them.”
“Most of us have scored international hundreds. We have proven that we are definitely capable of playing at this level. It is just a matter of going out there and spending some time."
West Indies trained at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday for the first time ahead of the Test, which begins on December 26.
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