The Australian tour to West Indies has come to an end. And contrary to expectations, Australia did n't win everything that was up on stake. The 5 match ODI series was squared 2-2 which the West Indies had a very serious chance of winning and which they probably could n't win due to some mad running between the wickets by the no. 11 in the tied game. The 2 match T-20 series was also tied 1-1. Australia just managed to take the test series 2-0. Though the scoreline suggests the series might have been one sided but it was not so. The West Indies fought valiantly and did n't give easy victories to Australia. Although Australia is far from the side they used to be 7-8 years back but still they are a tough team and West Indies have clearly given a strong message that they are not mere pushovers.
West Indies have got some really exciting players like Darren Bravo, Rampaul, Sammy and then the senior pro Chanderpaul who recently joined the 10000 club. West Indies throughout the tour pushed Australia and made them work very hard to earn the victory. And especially the one day series where at the end of 4 matches WI were leading 2-1 including a tied match which WI should have won.
West Indies it looks like have atleast shown signs of improvement in the shorter versions of the game. In the longer version their performance was good in patches but to win a test, they needed to perform well for a longer period of time which they did n't do.
In the past 1 year West Indies played 21 ODI's and managed to win 9 of them including 7 victories against the top teams like Australia, India and Pakistan. In the last 3 years West Indies won just 19 out of the 62 ODI's they played. The win % goes up from 30.64% in the last 3 years to 42.85% in the last 1 year. SO the improvement is definitely there. In the last 1 year WI lost 6 out of the 13 tests they played while in the last 3 years they lost 14 out of the 26 tests they played. Thus the loss % comes down from 53.8% in the last 3 years to 46.15% in the last 1 year. The improvement in tests has not been very great but the fact that it exists is alone satisfying.
The West Indian players are showing that they are capable of beating the best in the world but they have not been clicking as a unit which is their main shortcoming. The pitches in West Indies remain sluggish, low and slow which is one of the reasons why West Indies have been on a downfall since the past decade or so.
But the future looks bright. Some players like Narine, Cooper etc are showing their skills in the IPL and they might as well help the West Indies win more tests in the time to come. West Indies have been at their lowest worst in the past decade and now they can only go up from here.
West Indies it looks like have atleast shown signs of improvement in the shorter versions of the game. In the longer version their performance was good in patches but to win a test, they needed to perform well for a longer period of time which they did n't do.
In the past 1 year West Indies played 21 ODI's and managed to win 9 of them including 7 victories against the top teams like Australia, India and Pakistan. In the last 3 years West Indies won just 19 out of the 62 ODI's they played. The win % goes up from 30.64% in the last 3 years to 42.85% in the last 1 year. SO the improvement is definitely there. In the last 1 year WI lost 6 out of the 13 tests they played while in the last 3 years they lost 14 out of the 26 tests they played. Thus the loss % comes down from 53.8% in the last 3 years to 46.15% in the last 1 year. The improvement in tests has not been very great but the fact that it exists is alone satisfying.
The West Indian players are showing that they are capable of beating the best in the world but they have not been clicking as a unit which is their main shortcoming. The pitches in West Indies remain sluggish, low and slow which is one of the reasons why West Indies have been on a downfall since the past decade or so.
But the future looks bright. Some players like Narine, Cooper etc are showing their skills in the IPL and they might as well help the West Indies win more tests in the time to come. West Indies have been at their lowest worst in the past decade and now they can only go up from here.
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