Lillee - Ageing West Indies Pace Attack Ready For A Beating (3 Oct 1996)

3 October 1996

Ageing Windies pace attack ready for a beating: Lillee

SYDNEY - Australian cricketing great Dennis Lillee on Tuesday said there had never been a better time to beat the West Indies and rated the depth of Australia`s pace attack as a lot healthier than in the recent past.

Australia hosts the West Indies in a five-Test series this season and Lillee was optimistic about retaining the Frank Worrell Trophy, won last year in the West Indies` first home series loss to Australia since 1972-73.

Lillee, Australia`s record wicket taker in Tests with 355, said the West Indians` hopes relied greatly on their ageing but still potent pace duo of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, who lacked high quality support.

"Walsh and Ambrose are just holding them together and in terms of age and wear and tear have got to be getting towards the end of it,`` Lillee said.

"After them they are a bit light. I think there`s never been a better time to beat the West Indies.

"They still have a couple of very good batters but it falls away pretty quickly.

"I think without Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose firing, you get them on an off game or off day, the rest will struggle.``

Asked to assess the various Test pace attacks, Lillee rated Pakistan and South Africa highly and said he thought Australia would be in a similar shape in the next year or two.

Lillee said there were 10 to 12 fast bowlers he believed could do a good job for Australia if given a chance at international level.

"That to me is a lot healthier than it was four years ago,`` Lillee, (47), said. Taylor calls for six-day Test against India

BOMBAY, (AFP) - Australian captain Mark Taylor on Tuesday said he would back calls to extend his side`s one-off Test against India into a sixth day if it helped bring about a clear-cut result.

"I am all for getting a result in a Test. That is what test cricket is all about,`` the Australian captain said.

The left-handed opener said a sixth day could be played if required, adding: "We have to sit down and talk with match referee about the issue``.

Taylor was speaking after arriving here Monday for Australia`s six-week tour of India, which will include one test and a one-day series.

Taylor added that his 14-man squad was keen to restore its reputation after failing to do itself justice in the World Cup final.

Taylor argued his side could still be a winning combination during the tour of India, despite the absence of injured leg spinner Shane Warne.

Taylor, himself recovering from back surgery, said: "Shane`s absence is definitely a big blow, but we have won matches without Warne before.``

Warne withdrew from the squad to give his injured spinning finger time to heal from recent surgery.

Taylor, meanwhile, put his own fitness at "95 percent.``

The Australians, who Taylor said played "very ordinarily`` when losing the World Cup final to Sri Lanka earlier in the year, open their Indian tour with a three-day match against a President`s XI beginning in Patiala on October 5.

The New Delhi test from October 10-14 will be followed by a oneday tournament involving Australia, South Africa and India, beginning on October 19 and ending on November 6.

Strike bowler Craig McDermott is another major absence from the tour. McDermott, who only lasted three overs during the World Cup, is injured again and hoping to regain fitness to play against the West Indians later this year.

Australia last toured India in 1986.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)