| Tour
of West Indies 2007-08
Captain: Ricky Ponting | |
| | | | |
| Eightieth Test tour Tenth Test-playing tour
of West Indies by Australia (May -
July 2008) | Australia won the Test series 2-0. Despite West
Indies fighting hard to regain the Frank Worrell Trophy, this
was the sixth consecutive series since 1995 in which the Australians, admittedly
advantaged by a string of umpiring errors, had prevailed. The tourists also
made a clean sweep of the one-day internationals, winning all five matches. Simon
Katich was back in the Test side for the first time since 2005 and, opening
in place of the injured Hayden, scored two vital centuries. Backed by Brett Lee,
bowling as fast and as well as ever, Australia won at Kingston and Bridgetown,
where they set a target of 475 to win and the West Indians reached a
creditable 387. Stuart
MacGill retired from international cricket in the middle of the series as he
felt he had lost form with his bowling and fielding, and keeping another
player out of the side. | Other
Australian Tours Previous
tour Pakistan 2007-08 cancelled Bangladesh 2005-06 Next
tour India 2008-09 Next
tour of West Indies 2011-12 | |
| Members of the Test tour party (15 + 1) Opening batsmen: Matthew Hayden (in the endreplaced by Brad Hodge), Phil Jaques,
Simon Katich. Middle-order batsmen:Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Andrew Symonds, Michael Hussey. Wicket-keeper: Brad Haddin Spin bowlers: Beau Casson, Stuart MacGill. Fast bowlers: Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Ashley Noffke. ⋄ contracted players
| D E Bollinger added | NSW ⋄ | 26 | LFM | - | | B
Casson | WA ⋄ | 25 | SLA unorthodox | | | S R Clark | NSW ⋄ | 24 | RFM | ODI | | M J
Clarke | NSW ⋄ | 27 | RHB (SLA) vice-captain | ODI | | B J Haddin | NSW ⋄ | 30 | WK | ODI | | M L
Hayden | Qld ⋄ | 36 | LHB opener | ODI
w/d | | B W Hilfenhaus
w/d | Tas ⋄ | 25 | RFM | - | | M E K
Hussey | WA ⋄ | 32 | LHB | ODI | | P A
Jaques | NSW ⋄ | 29 | LHB opener | - | | M G Johnson | Qld ⋄ | 26 | LF | ODI | | S M Katich | NSW ⋄ | 32 | LHB opener | - | | B Lee | NSW ⋄ | 31 | RF | ODI | | S C G
MacGill | NSW ⋄ | 37 | LBG | - | | A A Noffke | Qld ⋄ | 31 | RFM | - | | R T Ponting | Tas ⋄ | 33 | RHB captain | ODI | | A
Symonds | Qld ⋄ | 32 | RHB RM/OB | ODI | | | Selected
for limited overs squad only | N W
Bracken (NSW ⋄) | ODI | | J R
Hopes (Qld ⋄) | ODI | | D J
Hussey (Vic ⋄) | ODI | | S E
Marsh (WA ⋄) | ODI | | L
Ronchi (WA) | ODI | | S R
Watson (Qld ⋄) | ODI | | C L
White (Vic ⋄) | ODI |
|
State representation Pura Cup teams NSW New
South Wales (7) Qld Queensland
(4) SA South
Australia (0) Tas Tasmania
(2) Vic Victoria
(0) WA Western
Australia (2) Average
age of team at time of first Test
match (22
May 2008) : 30
yrs 4 months ⋄ contracted players ODI | |
| Test Appearances made before the tour | Ponting 116, Hayden 94,
Lee 55, MacGill 42, Clarke 33,
Katich 23, Hussey 22, Symonds 19,
Clark 15, Jaques 8, Johnson 6,
Hodge 5, Casson 0, Haddin 0,
Hilfenhaus 0, Noffke 0. | | |
| Tour Officials | Steve
Bernard | Tour
manager | Tim
Nielsen | Coach | Terry
G Oliver | Assistant
coach | Justin
Steer | Physiotherapist | Richard
McInnes | Performance
Analyst / assistant coach | | Physical
performance manager | | Masseur |
Justin Steer, physio with Victoria, was in the post only for one
year before being succeeded by ... | | |
| Selectors | Andrew Hilditch (chairman), David Boon, Merv Hughes and Jamie Cox. | | |
| Selection | Unavailable: Adam Gilchrist, Brad Hogg and Jason Gillespie (all recently retired); Shaun Tait. (not participating at cricket
at present) Tour Party Announced 1 April 2008. Withdrawals: Ben Hilfenhaus (stress fracture in lower
back) was replaced by Doug Bollinger on 15 April. Not selected: Chris Rogers, Adam Voges. | Time between selection and departure from Australia 39 days (1
April - 10 May) | |
| Travel Sydney Q London Q Kingston | The squad assembled in Brisbane for a training
camp beginning on Monday 5 May. Left Sydney on Saturday 10
May 2008, via Dubai and London,
en route to the Caribbean. The team arrived in Kingston,
Jamaica, on
Monday 12 May. | Time spent in West Indies x days (12 May - 9 ? February) | |
| On-tour selection panel | | | |
| Reinforcements | Michael
Clarke was given compassionate leave to be with his ailing future
father-in-law and allowed to join team after first Test. Brad Hodge was called in temporarily from
the Indian Premier League to cover his place. When Matthew Hayden failed to recover sufficiently from an injury to
his right achilles tendon, Brad Hodge stayed with the Test squad. Shane Watson took Hayden’s place in the
one-day team. Western
Australia’s ‘keeper, Luke Ronchi, a New Zealander by birth, was flown
out before the third Test to shadow Brad
Haddin, who broke the ring finger on
his right hand but recovered in time for the Test. However, it was decided to
fly him back home from Grenada
on Friday 27 June so Ronchi kept wicket for the rest of the tour, including
the four remaining one-day internationals. Ricky Ponting left the tour after the third
ODI. He injured a tendon in his right wrist
during the 3rd ODI and flew home to see a specialist in Melbourne, Michael
Clarke taking over for the last two matches. Ponting
had minor surgery in Melbourne
on Monday 7 July. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | a | Trelawny (GS) | Jamaica Select XI | Drawn | b | KINGSTON | WEST INDIES First Test | WON 95 r | c | NORTH SOUND, ANTIGUA | WEST INDIES Second Test | DRAWN | d | BRIDGETOWN | WEST INDIES Third Test | WON 87 r | e | Å Bridgetown
| West Indies (T20 - reduced to 11 overs) | Lost
7 w | f | ϯ Bridgetown | UWI
Vice-Chancellor’s XI (50 overs) | Won
211 r | g | § Kingston | West Indies (1st ODI) | Won
84 r | h | § St George’s, Grenada | West Indies (2nd ODI) | Won
63 r | i | § St George’s, Grenada | West Indies (3rd ODI) | Won 7
w | j | § Basseterre, St Kitts | West Indies (4th ODI) | Won 1
r | k | § Basseterre, St Kitts | West Indies (5th ODI) | Won
169 r |
(GS) : Greenfield Stadium, Trelawny, on north
coast of Jamaica. | ϯ not first-class Å T20 international § one-day international Time spent in West Indies before First Test: 10 days (12 May - 22 May) | |
| Test appearances on tour | 3
- Clark, Haddin,
Hussey, Jaques, Johnson,
Katich, Lee, Ponting,
Symonds 2
- Clarke, MacGill 1
- Casson, Hodge. 0
- Bollinger, Hayden,
Noffke. | | |
| Match appearances T Test match o one-day international x other match ⊕ T/20 international W won L lost D drawn N
no result A abandoned u unknown result | | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k | D E Bollinger | | | | | | | | | | | | B Casson | | | | T | | | | | | | | S R Clark | x | T | T | T | | x | | | | | | M J Clarke | | | T | T | Å | | o | o | o | o | o | B J Haddin | x | T | T | T | | | o | | | | | M L Hayden | | | | | | | | | | | | B J Hodge | x | T | | | | | | | | | | M E K Hussey | X | T | T | T | Å | x | o | o | o | o | o | P A Jaques | x | T | T | T | | | | | | | | M G Johnson | x | T | T | T | Å | x | o | o | o | o | o | S M Katich | x | T | T | T | | | | | | | | B Lee | x | T | T | T | Å | | o | o | o | o | o | S C G MacGill | x | T | T | | | | | | | | | A A Noffke | | | | | | | | | | | | R T Ponting | x | T | T | T | Å | | o | o | o | | | A Symonds | x | T | T | T | | | | | o | o | o | N W Bracken | | | | | | x | o | o | o | o | o | J R Hopes | | | | | Å | x | o | o | o | o | o | D J Hussey | | | | | Å | x | | | | o | o | S E Marsh | | | | | Å | x | o | o | o | o | o | L Ronchi
| | | | | Å | x | | o | o | o | o | S R Watson | | | | | Å | x | o | o | o | o | o | C L White | | | | | Å | x | o | o | | | | RESULTS
| D | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| | |
| Highlights | • Ricky Ponting struck 158 in the first Test
at Kingston, and was Australia’s
top-scorer in the series • Stuart Clark, 3-59 and 5-32, bowled out West
Indies to win the first Test in Kingston • Simon Katich, who had not played Test
cricket for two and a half years, scored a century (113) in the second Test ;
and another (157) in the third. • In that innings he shared a double-century
opening stand with Phil Jaques who made 108. • Michael Clarke, back after a family
bereavement, scored 100 in his first innings at Antigua’s
North Sound. • Brett Lee took eight wickets in the Antigua
Test (5-59 and 3-51) and 18 wickets in the series • In the second ODI in Grenada Ricky Ponting
made his 300th one-day international appearance. | | |
| Tour Summary | | P | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | Other first-class matches | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | ϯ Minor matches | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | § One-day internationals | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | Å T20 international | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | All Matches | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | - |
| | |
| Return to Australia ? Q Sydney | Brad
Haddin flew home early with a broken finger, leaving Grenada on 27
June. Ricky
Ponting went home after three one-day internationals with a tendon injury in
his right wrist. Michael Clarke took over the one-day captaincy from
him. | Time away from Australia
59
days (10 May - 8 July ) | |
| Finances | ….. | | |
| Postscript | Stuart MacGill made a decision to bow out of Test cricket after
the second Test when he decided his bowling and fielding were not up to
scratch. | | |