West Indies strong on spin, weak on batting
Stats preview of the Test series between West Indies and Australia
Bishen Jeswant
02-Jun-2015
All three of West Indies' Test wins against Australia since 1998 have come in home games • Hamish Blair/Getty Images
3 Number of times West Indies have beaten Australia in a Test match since 1998, all at home. In the same period, West Indies played 11 Tests in Australia, losing ten and drawing the other. West Indies were whitewashed in two of the three Test series in Australia (in 2000 and 2005) but did not suffer this fate a single time in four home series against their opponents.
| Host country | Mat | Won | Lost | Draw | Loss % |
| West Indies | 14 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 64.29 |
| Australia | 11 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 90.91 |
47.9 Batting strike rate in Test matches played in the West Indies over the last 10 years, the lowest for any Test nation. The only other countries where batsmen scored at a strike rate of less than 50 in this period were Zimbabwe and UAE.
31.6 Bowling average of spinners in the West Indies over the last five years, the best among Test nations. Spinners have taken almost 15 wickets per match in the West Indies in this period, the most in any country outside Asia. They have also taken 15 five-wicket hauls in the West Indies over this period, again the most outside Asia.
| Host Country | Mat | Wkts | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 | Wkts/mat |
| West Indies | 23 | 311 | 31.59 | 2.86 | 66.0 | 15 | 3 | 13.5 |
| Zimbabwe | 8 | 106 | 31.83 | 2.82 | 67.5 | 3 | 1 | 13.3 |
| India | 20 | 385 | 31.85 | 2.90 | 65.7 | 24 | 4 | 19.3 |
| U.A.E | 18 | 302 | 34.64 | 2.85 | 72.9 | 13 | 2 | 16.8 |
| Sri Lanka | 22 | 356 | 34.87 | 2.93 | 71.3 | 24 | 5 | 16.2 |
| England | 36 | 254 | 37.74 | 3.20 | 70.6 | 11 | 1 | 7.1 |
| Bangladesh | 15 | 281 | 39.87 | 3.28 | 72.8 | 16 | 1 | 18.7 |
| South Africa | 21 | 137 | 40.20 | 3.14 | 76.5 | 5 | 1 | 6.5 |
| Australia | 26 | 168 | 48.98 | 3.41 | 85.9 | 5 | 1 | 6.5 |
| New Zealand | 16 | 86 | 49.27 | 2.80 | 105.5 | 1 | 0 | 5.4 |
28.7 Batting average of West Indies' players at home over the last five years, the poorest for any top-eight team at home. Their batsmen average 30.02 in away Tests over the same period. West Indies are the only team whose batsmen, over the last five years, have a better average and strike in away Tests.
| Team | Mat (H) | Ave (H) | SR (H) | Mat (A) | Ave (A) | SR (A) | Avg diff | SR diff |
| Australia | 26 | 39.17 | 58.51 | 26 | 28.81 | 49.84 | 10.36 | 8.67 |
| Bangladesh | 15 | 33.56 | 53.58 | 8 | 24.84 | 48.51 | 8.72 | 5.07 |
| England | 34 | 37.59 | 52.43 | 25 | 30.63 | 47.34 | 6.96 | 5.09 |
| India | 20 | 40.50 | 55.41 | 30 | 28.40 | 50.24 | 12.1 | 5.17 |
| New Zealand | 16 | 36.06 | 52.65 | 26 | 27.75 | 49.40 | 8.31 | 3.25 |
| Pakistan | NA | NA | NA | 43 | 32.67 | 47.79 | NA | NA |
| South Africa | 21 | 37.64 | 54.40 | 19 | 41.50 | 48.95 | -3.86 | 5.45 |
| Sri Lanka | 22 | 36.33 | 50.28 | 21 | 31.70 | 48.48 | 4.63 | 1.80 |
| West Indies | 23 | 28.71 | 47.27 | 21 | 30.02 | 51.12 | -1.31 | -3.85 |
| Zimbabwe | 8 | 27.48 | 43.72 | 6 | 18.44 | 46.75 | 9.04 | -3.03 |
3 West Indies batsmen who have scored 1500 Test runs over the last five years, the fewest for any top-eight nation. They are Shivnarine Chanderpaul (3198), Darren Bravo (2548) and Marlon Samuels (2068). Chanderpaul is not playing the first Test. Seven Australia batsmen have scored more than 1500 runs in this period, the second-best for any team after India (8).