We'll bounce right back, says Steve Waugh (17 March 1999)

17 March 1999

We'll bounce right back, says Steve Waugh

Tony Cozier in Kingston

Steve Waugh sounded a lot like Brian Lara repeatedly did in South Africa.

"It's been a disappointment," the Australian captain said after his team's 10-wicket defeat in the Second Test here yesterday that levelled the four-Test series 1-1. "We didn't show enough respect for our wickets, we weren't working hard enough and we weren't getting through the tough periods."

"Whenever the West Indies get a wicket, we know they're going to come at us hard and they're hard to stop when they get on a roll," he noted. "It's just up to everybody to put his hand up and want to be the batsman to make runs."

Australia were bowled out for 256 and 177 in their two innings and that is where Waugh, like Lara in South Africa, placed the blame for the defeat. "It's pretty simple," he said. "We didn't bat well." Waugh accepted that his team might have let its guard slip a bit after the comprehensive First Test victory by 312 runs. But, he pointed out, two teams played the game.

"You've got to give credit to the opposition," he said. "They batted superbly on that second day, Lara played a fantastic innings and they kept coming at us with the ball."

"That First Test was a tough Test for the first three days," he said. "We dominated day four but we had to fight to win it. It wasn't as easy as everyone thought. When you've got three world-class players like Lara, (Curtly) Ambrose and (Courtney) Walsh, you're capable of beating any side and we've got to play good cricket to beat these guys."

But Waugh, in his first series as Australian captain in succession to Mark Taylor, warned that Australia will come back strong in the remaining two Tests in Barbados and Antigua.

"It's only one Test match," he noted. "There is no way I'm going to read too much into this. I know we're going to bounce back."

"We've got too many good players and it means a lot to us to play for Australia," he added. "There's no way we're going to play as poorly in the Third Test."

Source :: The Trinidad Express (https://www.trinidad.net/express/)