00:00Despite Australia's loss to South Africa in the World Test Championships final at Lord's,
00:05the baggy green are sure to dominate the three-match series against the West Indies.
00:09So says cricket analyst Fazir Mohamed, who expects Australia's loss in the WTC final to fire them up even more.
00:16Make no bones about it, even with the issues surrounding the unavailability of Steve Smith at the start of the series
00:23and concerns about the stability of their top order, especially the top three with Manas Labushain
00:29having been dropped already for that first Test match in Barbados.
00:33There's no doubt that the Australians will be heavy favourites to get the better of the West Indies in the first Test match and indeed the series.
00:41The venues for the three Test matches are Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica
00:46with Sabina Park hosting a day-night game with the use of a pink ball.
00:50Regarding the scoreline, this is Mohamed's prediction.
00:53At this stage, it's difficult not to see Australia as the comfortable winners of the series.
00:582-0 if rain gets in the way of one of the matches, but 3-0 if all goes well and the weather holds fine at this time or there,
01:06which is usually very dicey when it comes to the weather.
01:10Mohamed says there's a lot of uncertainty in the 16-man squad chosen by the West Indies.
01:16He also finds it surprising that Kimar Roach has been omitted after serving the team well for many years.
01:22There seems to be a desire by head coach Darren Salmi, who seems to be the chief cook and bottle washer,
01:28not just as coach as selector, never mind what the official line is.
01:32It seems to be a desire to move away from some of the established players of the last couple of years
01:37and the decision to move forward or go back to players like John Campbell and Shea Hope
01:42will have to wait and see if it bears fruit.
01:44Mohamed feels the only way that the West Indies can change that scoreline
01:48is by being consistent and applying themselves better as a team.
Be the first to comment