Windies no walkover for Australia in coming series

by EZRA STUART

in Guyana

THE WEST INDIES won't be a cakewalk for Australia during their upcoming three-match Test series "Down Under".

Bubbly all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, who are both in line to be newly reappointed captain Chris Gayle's deputy on the tour, believes the Caribbean cricketers can compete creditably with the Aussies.

"It won't be easy, but we can do it. With the full strength side I know the guys are hungry to do well. We had a hard break against Bangladesh and in South Africa but we are keen to come together and play Australia hard," Bravo said in an interview with the Line and Length Network on Monday night.

Bravo, 26, the only member of the West Indies' 15-man team with a Test century in Australia, said he saw Test cricket as the ultimate and wanted to emulate the legendary West Indian cricketers.

"To me, Twenty20 and the ODI's are fun but I want to play Test cricket and chase down records held by the greats like Sir Garry (Sobers) and those guys," he said. "Once Dwayne Bravo is fit, I will always want to play Test cricket."

Bravo was speaking minutes after Trinidad and Tobago defeated Barbados by two wickets in the first semi-final of the WICB President's Cup One-Day Tournament at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence.

Meanwhile, Ramdin said he was happy to be back playing cricket for the West Indies after the contractual row, led to the first-choice players pulling out of the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh.

"I just kept focused and concentrated on playing for T&T in India (during the Champions League Twenty20). I always said just keep playing and the row will sort itself out," he said.

Like his Trinidadian compatriot, Bravo, Ramdin also reckoned the Windies could overcome Ricky Ponting's Australians in the Tests in Brisbane (November 26-30), Adelaide (December 4-8) and Perth (December 16-20).

"We can beat Australia. It will be tough, but I know the guys are going to play very hard," he said.