Walsh must lift Windies

28 November 1996


BRISBANE, Australia, Wednesday - Courtney Walsh must lift his West Indies players and deal with an injury worry over fast bowler Kenny Benjamin before the second Test against Australia starts Friday.

After the heavy 123-run defeat by Australia in Brisbane was completed on Tuesday, Walsh said he was disappointed with ``few soft dismissals'' on the final day.

He did not single out the offending batsmen, but Brian Lara and first-innings century-maker Carl Hooper were out to rash shots in the second innings.

The West Indies hero was Barbados opener Sherwin Campbell, who defied the Australian bowlers for 407 minutes and 327 balls for his 113.

``We will approach Sydney as positively as we can, obviously the guys are disappointed, but the way Sherwin played today will give the guys a lot of heart,'' Walsh said.

``We have a few good points to look back on and a few bad ones to iron out as well.

``The good ones were the way Sherwin batted today, (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul and Hooper to get us back in the first innings and the bowlers bowled better in the second innings after being a bit rusty in the first innings.

``The guys weren't as sharp as they could have been, but they got better as the game went on.''

Walsh said Benjamin's injured knee was causing some concern, although his availability for the Sydney Test won't be known until at least Thursday.

``Kenny Benjamin has a slight problem with the left knee and he wasn't able to bowl the way we would like him to bowl,'' said Walsh.

``Hopefully, tomorrow we can have a rest and have a few beers and see what happens.

``I'm hoping that by the time we get to Sydney that he will be more confident that he will be 100 per cent for the Test match.''

``It will be nice for us if Australia get complacent, but the last time we came to Australia we lost a Test match and came from behind and won the series.''


Source: The Daily News

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Date-stamped : 25 Feb1998 - 14:49