Australia's sway over West Indies continues

By Malcolm Conn

MELBOURNE, DEC. 29. Steve Waugh's overwhelming motivation to make a clean sweep of the West Indies in Sydney next week is to continue building the momentum towards cricket's ultimate challenge - overcoming India on the sub-continent.

As Australia marches relentlessly toward its first 5-0 drubbing of the West Indies after winning the fourth Test in Melbourne on Friday by 352 runs with a day and a half to spare, the Australian captain admitted publicly for the first time that his holy grail was success in India.

``We want to try and get better every Test and we're looking towards the Indian tour,'' Waugh said after another crushing result which further demoralised this shattered West Indian side and left Australia with a 14th successive victory.

``We believe we can win over there. We want to keep getting better until we get to India. That will be a great challenge for us.'' Waugh's mind has been occupied for some time with becoming the first Australian captain to win there in 30 years but on Friday, after another ruthlessly clinical kill, was the first time he spoke publicly of a three-Test tour which is still six weeks away.

Despite the final Test and an approaching one-day series Waugh, who has the most compartmentalised mind in the game, has began to consider what conditions his all-conquering team will encounter. He is particularly interested in recent comments from Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly.

``I saw the Indian captain saying the other day they were going to prepare turning pitches and he was going to have a say in that. That was interesting,'' said Waugh. ``I think we can play on any wickets. We've got the bowlers and the batsmen who can adjust. They're quality players and they should be able to do that at Test level. It doesn't really matter what sort of wicket they come up against.'' Nor does it matter what type of surface Australia plays the West Indies on after bowling the beleaguered tourist out for just 109 on Melbourne's post Olympic soccer drop- in wicket.

Resuming at three for 10 it tumbled to six for 23 before Samuels and an unlucky Ridley Jacobs (23) ensured there would not be a record low score. Jason Gillespie continued his brilliant comeback with six for 40 and Colin Miller (three for 40) made another solid contribution. Only once has the West Indies lost to Australia by more runs - 382 in Sydney during 1968-69.

Should the inevitability of this series continue it will be just the third time Australia has managed a 5-0 clean sweep in 123 years of Test cricket. The first was against England in 1920-21 and the second against South Africa in 1931-32. Not even at its worst in the mid `80s did Australia suffer such a humiliation.

Samuels, the lone star

Waugh believes the West Indies can draw some long-term solace from Australia's struggle out of that desperate period given the impressive stature 19-year-old Marlon Samuels displayed in this match as his shell-shocked senior colleagues stumbled and tumbled around him. Samuels followed his first innings score of 60 not out from 165 to be last man out slogging for 46, almost half the team score.

Waugh feels the West Indies can build a new, unscarred generation around Samuels and other quality young players who follow in the same way that Australia invested in himself, Ian Healy, Dean Jones, David Boon and Geoff Marsh to form the nucleus of a side which now stands on top of the world in both forms of the game.

Despite the enormous defeats Australia has inflicted on the West Indies, which has now lost 18 of its 20 away matches, Waugh said he was not worried about the future of Caribbean cricket largely because of Samuel's emergence. ``There's got to be more players like him in the Caribbean. I'm certain he's not by himself. They won the Under 15 World Cup. They've got tradition and pride in their cricket,'' said Waugh.

For his part Samuels is a relaxed, confident and engaging young man enjoying his cricket. ``It hasn't affected me in any way,'' he said. ``I'm still positive in everything I'm doing. I always wanted to play for the West Indies.''

Greg Chappell was his idol ``because he made a century in his first Test and his last - that's something I was hoping to do,'' Samuels added with a smile.

Like his elder brother Robert Samuels, who opened the batting in the last series here four years ago, Marlon was unconcerned by what was said to him in the middle. ``There's a lot of talk out there. I'm used to that because I get it at home,'' he said.

Jimmy Adams too sang Samuels' praises but the West Indian captain could only wish that his mind was so uncluttered after a poorly executed drive gained him a pair for the match.

``Not so much physically, but mentally it can get to you,'' he said of leading the West Indies through its worst period in history. ``You're learning every day. You have to keep going.''

It's rare that Steve Waugh shows sympathy but has some for Adams. ``I really feel sorry for Jimmy because he's a really nice guy and a good cricketer,'' said Waugh. ``It's not happening for Jimmy at the moment and his batting is showing signs of stress.''

``He's not really thinking clearly with his shot selection. He's a good fellow and he'll come back from that. It's certainly a tough time.''

``You've got to get out there and try and relax. It's not easy when you're 4-0 down but you've got to try and be positive.''

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