Andre Coley
West Indies Test head coach Andre Coley says they will be using the opening practice match on their tour of Australia to tighten up in both the batting and bowling departments, as they brace for what will be a tough two-match Test Series Down Under.
The Caribbean side’s preparations for the series, which is part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), will hit another gear when they engage a young Cricket Australia XI in a three-day, practice match at Karen Rolton Oval, on Wednesday.
Coley, working with a fairly inexperienced 15-man squad which boast seven uncapped players, expressed pleasure with how things are coming together, and is optimistic that his team can find success on this occasion. It has been well over 20 years since West Indies las won a Test series in Australia dating back to a 1992-93 series, which they won 2-1.
Captain Kraigg Brathwaite is one of only five members of the squad returning to Australia, along with long-standing pacer Kemar Roach, vice-captain Alzarri Joseph, wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva and opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul. The seven debutants are opener Zachary McCaskie, Tevin Imlach, all-rounders Justin Greaves, Kavem Hodge, Kevin Sinclair, Akeem Jordan and Shamar Joseph.
“Everybody wants to do well here, whether they have had experience of playing here in the past, or it is their first trip. It has been a good experience watching them get over the jetlag and then get into the work, whatever it has been on a specific day, and the focus has been good,” Coley shared in a Cricket West Indies (CWI) interview ahead of the warm-up game.
The practice match does not have first-class status, which means both teams can rotate more than 11 players through their line-ups, and this provides Coley the opportunity to better observe the new players in action.
“When you think about Test matches, it’s really important that you are able to bat a day to be able to set up the game from a batting standpoint. On the flipside of that it’s pretty simple for me, if you can get the opposition out before the end of a day’s play, so for me, those are easy markers,” he said.
“How we go about it as a batting and bowling group is where it becomes more specific as it relates to the roles and the different skill sets that each player brings to the table. But we are looking to keep it really, really simple, and these are some of the markers that we are looking to get out of the game,” Coley added.
That said, Coley pointed to the progress made in their build up to the Test match. The first Test is scheduled for January 17 in Adelaide, with the second set to take place on January 25 at The Gabba.
“I am happy with the progress we have made. It has been a gradual adjustment (to the conditions), but at the end of the day, regardless of how the pitch plays and what response we get from the pitch when bowling, each player has to adapt to what is in front of him,” Coley declared.
He continued: “Sometimes the pitch has little to do with it, as opposed to being locked in to what is in front of you. I think we have covered that pretty well in the batting, and similarly, adjusting to bowling lengths and what we want to achieve.
“The ability to hit specific areas has been good, as well as getting a general feel for how the ball moves around in the atmosphere from a fielding standpoint, we have been able to spend some time on that.”
Sherdon Cowan is a five-time award-winning journalist with 10 years' experience covering sports.
Pollard's quick-fire 52 propels TKR to victory over St Lucia Kings
Captain Kieron Pollard smashed a rapid half-century under pressure to lift Trinbago Knight Riders to a four wicket victory over Saint Lucia Kings in an entertaining Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) clash at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
After the Kings posted 187-6, the Knight Riders were well on track thanks to a belligerent 57 from 33 balls from Shaqkere Parris before stuttering in the middle overs.
With 27 runs needed off 12 balls, Pollard (52 not out off 19 balls) whacked four sixes off seamer Matthew Forde in the penultimate over before the Knight Riders ran down the target with five balls remaining to inflict defeat on the Kings. The Knight Riders moved to a record of 2-1, while the Kings are 2-2.
After being routed for just 100 by Guyana Amazon Warriors, the Kings paced their innings well after being sent in to bat.
Opener Johnson Charles got the Kings off to a flier with two sixes in three balls to spoil the 23th birthday of quick Jayden Seales.
Skipper Faf du Plessis also chanced his arm and was dropped twice before his middle stump was knocked over by left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil in the eighth over.
The Kings went through a lull in the middle overs, with Sunil Narine enjoying the spin-friendly conditions to finish with 2/13 from four overs.
But Roston Chase (56 not out from 40 balls) stepped up in the latter overs and powered the Kings to a strong total.
The Knight Riders needed a fast start and Narine obliged before falling to debutant left-arm quick Khari Campbell, who picked up the wicket with his sixth delivery.
But Campbell was brought back to earth when he misjudged a skier in a lucky let off for Jason Roy on 10. Campbell's confidence was shaken and he succumbed to an assault from a rampaging Parris who cracked a trio of sixes in the fifth over.
Parris raced to 31 off 9 balls as the Knight Riders continued to soar above the required run rate. He fittingly hit a six to reach his half-century off 20 balls as the Knight Riders reached triple figures in the ninth over.
But Parris was less assured against vicious short-pitched bowling from Alzarri Joseph and on 54 he gloved a rearing delivery only for wicketkeeper Tim Seifert to fumble the chance after diving forward.
Parris' momentum was halted and a clever bowling change led to his downfall when spinner Noor Ahmad lured him into a false shot. Keacy Carty struggled for fluency and in the 17th over was brilliantly caught by substitute fielder David Wiese, who dived at long on to take a stunner.
The pressure fell on Pollard, who kept his calm with his first CPL half-century since 2021 to leave the local fans once again stunned.
Stokes returns as England include uncapped duo in squad for Pakistan tour
England captain Ben Stokes is back in the squad for their tour of Pakistan in October, with uncapped duo Brydon Carse and Jordan Cox both included.
Stokes missed England's 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka this month with a hamstring injury and is continuing his recovery, as is opener Zak Crawley, who is also back after missing it with a broken finger.
Durham fast bowler Carse has made 14 ODI appearances and played three T20Is for England, while Essex batter Cox is expected to make his T20I debut against Australia on Wednesday.
Spinners Rehan Ahmed and Jack Leach, who has not played since January, are recalled, having also played in the 3-0 Test series away to Pakistan in 2022.
Seamer Josh Hull is included in the squad for his first senior tour after making his Test debut at The Oval.
Dan Lawrence, who was given the opportunity to open in Crawley's absence, struggled to make an impact and registered a highest score of just 35 in six innings, with that coming in England’s final Test, which they lost on Monday.
England's tour of Pakistan begins with the first Test on October 7.
England squad for Pakistan tour: Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
Indonesia 0-0 Australia: Wasteful Socceroos play out stalemate
Australia's wastefulness in front of goal cost them in World Cup qualifying once more as they drew 0-0 with Indonesia on Tuesday.
Nestory Irankunda came closest for the Socceroos, hitting the woodwork, as Graham Arnold's side failed to pick up their first win in the third round of the 2026 AFC World Cup qualifiers.
Indonesia had an early flurry of chances, with Sandy Walsh and Rafael Struick both testing Mat Ryan inside the opening 17 seconds.
Australia dominated after that though, with Harry Souttar seeing a couple of efforts saved in quick succession before Irankunda struck the woodwork from range just after the half-hour mark.
The visitors pushed for an opening in the second half but struggled to create many chances of note as Craig Goodwin had Australia's only shot on target after the break.
Witan Sulaeman almost snatched it at the end, but missed a glorious chance in the dying seconds, poking a close-range shot wide of the near post under no pressure.
Data Debrief: Socceroos fire another blank
Australia suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Bahrain in their last match, with a Souttar own goal compounding their misery that day.
And their lack of a clinical edge cost them once more against Indonesia, as they had 19 shots (five on target); they last recorded more without scoring against the United Arab Emirates in January 2019 in the Asian Cup (22).
Meanwhile, Indonesia's defence stayed resolute, but they offered little in terms of attacking threat, managing only two shots on target, which both came within a second of each other.
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