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The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Seales puts Australia on back foot as West Indies fight back in second Test
As so often in Test cricket, drama saved itself for the dying overs of the day. With 90 remaining minutes ticking down towards 60 on the second day of the second Test in Grenada, tactically minded onlookers started to think about West Indies' last-wicket partnership. Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales were defending with heart, on their way to facing 65 balls and adding 16 runs. With Australia having made 286 the previous day, their stand took West Indies from 49 runs behind to 33. But each over that they chose to keep batting rather than swing for runs, they reduced the time available to bowl at an Australian top order under pressure. In the end, there were 30 minutes left when Australia began the third innings. And in the end, that was enough to account for both openers, raising the tension another notch with only two more opportunities for them to bat in a Test before the Ashes. So much attention has been on young Sam Konstas, after struggles in Barbados and a briefly improved showing in the first innings here. He has only once before faced the pressure of a brief late Tests innings, in Sydney when he foolishly provoked Jasprit Bumrah and brought about Usman Khawaja's wicket next ball. This time, with nerves doubtless spiking, Konstas blocked once, left twice, then saw the fourth ball of the innings miles wide of his off stump. Hurling his bat without poise, he chopped it on. His trudge back to the dressing room for nought was as disconsolate as they come, body language radiating unhappiness, and as soon as he turned around, coach Andrew McDonald left the upstairs balcony to go inside and prepare to meet him. Two overs later, Khawaja fell to pace around the wicket again, lbw to inswing for the third time of four this series. Jayden Seales had them both, and Australia's top order has more question marks than the Riddler's pants. The team score of four runs became a dozen by stumps, an overall lead of 45. An opener's duck to end the day, bookending an opener's duck to start. Kraigg Braithwaite is the rarest of birds: a West Indies Test specialist. While his first-class record stands at a hefty 228 matches, and earlier in his career he scored a decent amount of runs from 63 games of 50-over cricket, he has still never played a professional T20 match, and isn't hunting the chance. What he has now done is play 100 Tests. It seems miraculous that a team whose engagements are now so occasional could give Braithwaite that many chances by the age of 32, though it helps when a player debuts at 18. His trademark has been to prioritise batting time, with runs a secondary priority, and his record is accordingly modest: an average of 32 is the lowest of any specialist bat out of the 82 members of the Hundred Club. Only two others average under 40. Place Brathwaite next to the previous nine West Indies entrants and those surnames tower over his: Lloyd, Richards, Greenidge, Haynes, Lara, Chanderpaul, Hooper, Gayle, Walsh. But West Indies Test cricket is a different world now, and needs any help it can get. While six years younger than Khawaja, Braithwaite is in a similar position: an experienced opener picked for stability but whose results are sharply on the wane. His last flourish began against Australia in late 2022, backing up 64 with 110 at the new stadium in Perth, before a big hundred against Zimbabwe. In two and a half years since that innings, he has averaged 19, with three fifties in 18 Tests. The thing about rare birds is they're always on the brink of going extinct. It was in that context that Brathwaite played a miscued drive in the second over of the day, skewing an easy catch back to Josh Hazlewood. Tenth West Indies player to 100 Tests, tenth player overall to make a duck in his milestone game. Pat Cummins followed up with a diving, sliding return catch of his own off Keacy Carty for 6, and the two quicks chipped away at the middle order. The best returns for West Indies came from a white-ball approach, with John Campbell smacking 40 while Brandon King played some impressive shots in his 75. When Nathan Lyon had King caught off the glove, 169 for 6 was still skinny, but some late-order hitting fattened it up to 253. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion As in Bridgetown, this is now a single-innings match, and it's up to Australia to set and defend a target. Braithwaite, though, will get a second innings, and needs runs to justify continuing his career to Test number 101. Konstas will play in Jamaica but will face the same demand there to take his tally past five. Khawaja has to find a way past his problems, or have an honest talk with himself about whether his Ashes aspirations will help his team. And before all of that future consideration, this Test right now remains very much alive.
The Guardian
04-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Carey and Webster steady Australia after more batting woe in West Indies
Same bat time, same bat channel. That's the feeling for Australia at the moment, as normal programming followed normal programming: top order failure, middle order digging the team out of a hole, a score that shouldn't be enough against a proper batting side but might well be enough against a vulnerable one. As the second Test against West Indies began on the small island of Grenada on Thursday, a reasonable start of 47 without loss abruptly became 50-3, and 110-5, before finally recovering to 286 all out, on a hot tropical day when occasional rain bursts created short delays, and bad light prevented a late tilt against West Indies' top order. Given how rarely the Grenada National Stadium is used, the surface was an unknown quantity. West Indies picked a fifth quick, Australia shrugged and picked the same four bowlers they would choose for St Moritz ice cricket if the chance came up. Dry, patchy, straw coloured, that pitch initially looked the sort where a couple of batters in need of a score could cash in. The pace looked slow, attempted bouncers barely reached the waist. Sam Konstas laid into the first of those he received, Usman Khawaja soon followed with some pulled boundaries of his own. But the one advantage for the bowlers was a little Dukes swing. After bringing up his 6,000th Test run, Khawaja's struggles against pace continued, inswing from Alzarri Joseph nailing him on the back pad for 16. New inclusion Anderson Phillip doesn't push the speed gun like his teammates, but had the ball moving both ways through the air, and four balls later had Konstas trying an ill-advised, lavish drive and coughing up the edge for 25. The collapse became 3-3 when Steve Smith was undone by an absence of bounce. Not normally a player who would look to hook early in an innings, he didn't get the length for that shot from Alzarri Joseph, more a length you'd expect him to drop off the hip for a single. Instead Smith went cross-bat, up and under, looking to lift it for six. And instead of fine leg throwing back the ball for one run, Phillip held the catch just inside the rope. Returning from injury as the man to bolster the batting, Smith walked off after six balls with his trademark look of confusion. It feels as though Travis Head is always walking in at three for bugger all, and the numbers confirm that the struggle is real. When batting at five or lower, Head has been called on with the score at 60 or less in 29 innings out of 89, basically a third of his hits. In the last 18 months it rises to nearly half the time, 10 innings out of 22. He often makes runs in those situations, an absolver of top-order sins. This time he did half that job, 29 out of the next 60, a man with shade of Boony teaming up with the two-metre brigade of Cameron Green and Beau Webster. Konstas, Khawaja, and Green form Australia's main concerns of the moment, and none were allayed on the day. Green's score of 26 was useful, but pushing hard at the ball undid him again, twice over. Five balls before lunch his mistimed drive at Jayden Seales was dropped at cover, and instead of navigating to the break, he went again and was caught at gully. So with Head caught behind off a lifter after the break, it was over to Australia's two firewalls once again, Webster and Alex Carey, with 60 and 63 in contrasting styles. Carey was happy to counter aggressively, carving behind point. Webster took his time, partly by choice and partly forced to by disciplined bowling. West Indies stuck to their task, prising out Carey then the tail, pushing Webster to take the chance of a second run and end up short. Joseph finished with 4-61 while the other four quicks shared the rest of the wickets around. The end came with dusk settling over the seaside ground, and an hour before a richly pastel sunset. In his 100th Test, Kraigg Braithwaite would have been relieved that all that was required of him that evening was a walk to the middle, soaking up some applause, before the umpires told him he could walk back off again. With no nasty late burst, the examination will wait until the clear light of morning. Not that daylight helped Australia's first session much. With the visitors repeating their program from Barbados, it's up to West Indies to offer something new to watch.
Winnipeg Free Press
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
Australia choose to bat first in Grenada against a West Indies four-pace attack
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) — Australia won the toss and chose to bat first against the West Indies in the second test on Thursday. Australia, 1-0 up in the three-test series, named its team earlier and Steve Smith returns in place of Josh Inglis. Smith missed the first test in Barbados after his finger injury in the World Test Championship final at Lord's last month. The West Indies also made one change; dropping frontline spinner Jomel Warrican for a fourth seamer, Anderson Phillip, who will play his first test since 2022. The West Indies lost in three days in Barbados but the National Stadium pitch is expected to be a little kinder for batters. But nobody was certain because St. George's hasn't hosted any cricket in a year. Former captain Kraigg Brathwaite will play his 100th test. His successor, Roston Chase, said he was happy with the toss decision, as he wanted to bowl. ___ Lineups: West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Brandon King, Shai Hope, Roston Chase (captain), ustin Greaves, Anderson Phillip, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales. Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. ___ AP cricket:
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Australia choose to bat first in Grenada against a West Indies four-pace attack
ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) — Australia won the toss and chose to bat first against the West Indies in the second test on Thursday. Australia, 1-0 up in the three-test series, named its team earlier and Steve Smith returns in place of Josh Inglis. Smith missed the first test in Barbados after his finger injury in the World Test Championship final at Lord's last month. Advertisement The West Indies also made one change; dropping frontline spinner Jomel Warrican for a fourth seamer, Anderson Phillip, who will play his first test since 2022. The West Indies lost in three days in Barbados but the National Stadium pitch is expected to be a little kinder for batters. But nobody was certain because St. George's hasn't hosted any cricket in a year. Former captain Kraigg Brathwaite will play his 100th test. His successor, Roston Chase, said he was happy with the toss decision, as he wanted to bowl. ___ Lineups: West Indies: Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Brandon King, Shai Hope, Roston Chase (captain), ustin Greaves, Anderson Phillip, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Jayden Seales. Advertisement Australia: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. ___ AP cricket:
