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Five things we learned from Antigua

Josh Hazlewood's on the rise, an unexpected Marsh talent and West Indies facing a big quandry

Josh Hazlewood can bowl ...

This isn't something we only learned today, but Hazlewood's spell with the new ball just after lunch was simply outstanding. Having taken two wickets early in the President's XI first innings, the right-armer grabbed three inside the first five overs of the second innings to light up a sluggish final day. Having had Ravindra Chandrika caught in the gully in the opening over, Hazlewood trapped Leon Johnson and then Sharmarh Brooks in front, with all three batsmen falling without scoring. He finished the spell with 3-4 including three maidens to firm for selection in the first Test next week.

And bat ...

The New South Welshman looked almost as comfortable with the bat in hand on the third morning, hitting five crisply struck boundaries in an unbeaten innings of 31, just 12 runs shy of his career-best score in first-class cricket. The left-hander was one of just three Australian batsmen for the innings to score more than 15 and could be a handy asset down the order if selected for the Test series.

Patience the key

The importance of the new ball was on display once again on the final day, with Hazlewood and Peter Siddle reducing the home side to 4-41 before the ball lost its sheen and batting became easier for local duo Roston Chase and Shane Dowrich.

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Roston Chase hits out against Lyon // WICB

It was a similar story on days one and two, meaning the Australians will need to be prepared in the Test series to wait for the wickets to come once the ball has softened up.

"Our strength's been our patience over the last 18 months or so," Lehmann said. "It's going to be doing the basics really well and being patient. The game seems to speed up quite quickly in the Caribbean over the back end of a game."

Marsh can give it a rip

He's not going to unseat Fawad Ahmed as the premier leg-spinner in the squad any time soon, but talented allrounder Mitch Marsh showed another string to his bow with an over of leg-spin as the game petered out in the final session.

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Marsh shapes up to deliver a leggie // cricket.com.au

And he showed some aptitude in the toughest of the bowling arts, with two of his deliveries nicely flighted and turning off the slow surface, with even the batsman nodding in acknowledgement.

But it didn't all go to plan; the final ball of the over almost bounced twice before it reached the batsman, much to the amusement of some of his teammates.

Windies hopefuls missed their chance

Opener Tyrone Theophile and No.3 Leon Johnson were considered two of the best chances from this President's XI squad to be called in for the Test series, especially with the Windies looking for a regular opener to partner Kraigg Brathwaite at the top of the order.

But the duo was unable to make an impression, with Johnson getting a pair and Theophile scoring 26 on the third day to go with his four on the opening morning.

Twenty-eight of the 30 runs Theophile made in this match came in boundaries, including a lofted cover drive for four from Hazlewood's opening over of the second innings.

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