McDermott warns of bouncer barrage

Craig McDermott says Australia’s fast-bowling unit will continue their hostile, short-pitched approach as they look to best adapt to Caribbean conditions over the next three weeks.

Australia’s pace attack found the going tough against Pakistan on the slow pitches of the United Arab Emirates last October, taking a combined 20 wickets at an average of 76 across the two-nil series defeat.

Former Test quick McDermott, who took 24 wickets on Australia's tour of the West Indies in 1991, is expecting similar conditions here in the Caribbean, starting with their warm-up match against a WICB President's XI in Antigua, which starts late on Wednesday night (AEST).

While spinners Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed are expected to find conditions to their liking over the coming weeks, Australia's quicks will nonetheless have a crucial role to play in their side’s quest to retain the Frank Worrell Trophy.

And McDermott, the Bupa Support Team's fast-bowling coach, believes the short ball will play a crucial role in his charges’ armoury.

"We've just got to make sure we get enough balls in the right areas and be relentless and patient and stick two up their nose an over,” he said.

"Certainly I've been talking to Josh (Hazlewood) and Mitchell Marsh in particular about using the crease and creating angles if the ball's not doing much.

"They're both tall blokes so they're going to get some bounce. We're allowed to bowl two bouncers an over so let's use them."

McDermott is also confident the lessons learned from the Pakistan series will hold Australia in good stead when they are again faced with slow surfaces in this two-Test series.

"It's no secret from the tour that we had here last time (in 2012) that the wickets weren't like they were when I played here," McDermott said.

"Jamaica may be, but certainly Dominica and that wicket out there (in Antigua) look like they're going to be pretty low and slow.

"(In the UAE) I think we were probably a little bit off the pace as far as our patience and that sort of stuff.

"And we were pretty aggressive with our fields all the time whereas Pakistan weren't.

"So I think we've learnt some things from that point of view as well."

However, McDermott believes his fast bowlers will find some facets of the conditions in the Caribbean more favourable than those they encountered in the Middle East last year.

The matches on this tour will be played using Duke balls, which are different to the Dukes used in England, but nonetheless should provide more lateral movement for the faster men than was available in the UAE.

"I think the ball will swing naturally here more than what it did in the UAE (when) we had to try to smash it up. And then it still didn't really reverse a hell of a lot to be honest," he said.

"The seams are a lot wider and a lot bigger here.

"If you get your seam position right you're able to get a leg cutter or an off cutter by default.

"Our boys have been bowling with (the West Indian Duke balls) in Brisbane. They move around a little bit more on our Australian wickets, particularly at the NCC where we had bit of grass on them.

"But they're moving off the deck out here (too).”