Be wary of confident Windies: Healy

Despite being six places behind Australia in the ICC Test rankings, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy says the West Indies could “surprise” Michael Clarke’s men and take out the two-Test series in the Caribbean.

Australia have not lost a Test series in the Caribbean in two decades since a stubborn Steve Waugh defied a seething Curtly Ambrose in 1995 in a 2-1 series win that crowned the new unofficial world champions.

But that doesn’t mean the hosts will be easy beats according to Healy, who was on hand at the Bupa National Cricket Centre today working with Australia’s Test squad glovemen Brad Haddin and Peter Nevill in preparation for the two-Test tour.

The confidence the West Indies extracted from their crushing, series-levelling victory over England last month is what worries a cautious Healy, but still expects the visitors to prevail.

“The West Indies are a better team than they let on,” Healy told cricket.com.au.

“They can surprise you. Their fast bowlers, if they get their lines and their lengths and their control right, and (when) they get a bit of confidence they really start swaggering around.

“Australia are going to have to be very good.

“You’d think they’re not going to get beaten, but you never know.

“If you get on the wrong side of a bad toss, the West Indies get on a bit of a roll, then they love their confidence and they might hold out a one-nil result.

“But Australia should be fantastic.

“We’ve got a good side. We’ve got great depth and great skill in every facet of our team so they should play well. That’s their job.”

Gone are the giant fast bowlers that used to roam the Caribbean on fast, bouncy wickets, traumatising Healy and the world’s visiting batsman for the best part of 15 years.

Now the archipelago befriends spinners over speedsters, as seen when Denesh Ramdin and the West Indies selectors employed a different specialist slow bowler in each of the three Tests against England.

Image Id: ~/media/7E1CE0B9393A4CC3A9FC5D1398A08F4CWest Indies spinner Devendra Bishoo // Getty Images

Upon announcing the 16-player touring party to the Caribbean, Australia’s chairman of selectors Rod Marsh made certain his charges were well equipped should the conditions demand a spin assault, naming Test incumbent Nathan Lyon alongside the Bupa Sheffield Shield’s leading wicket-taker, leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed.

Windsor Park, Dominica, home of the first Test starting June 3, is predicted to be the pitch with the most purchase for spin bowling.

And while Healy believes Australia could field a brace of spinners, the pitch is not the only thing that should alarm the tourists; it’s the quality stock of fast bowlers the Windies have assembled.

On a surface that turned from day one, it was the pace trio of Jermaine Taylor, Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder that tore apart Alastair Cook and his men in the third Test in Bridgetown, swinging the ball both traditionally and reverse, and the presence of Irish swing could sway the Australian selectors when settling on the final XI.

“You can play a couple of spinners over there,” Healy said.

“But if you do it’s still got to be good spin because it’s not particularly fast or devastating spin – it’s pretty predictable.

“It will spin, but it’s predictable. And then you weigh up your second spinner versus reverse swing.

“That’s probably the match up now.

“The towering, scary fast bowlers are gone, but they’ve got a five-foot eleven-ish attack of blokes who are pretty fast.

“If they get confident they can be hard to stop.”