The West Indies haven’t had much luck trying to stem the flow of runs coming from the Aussie batsmen’s blades this summer.
They were smashed everywhere by Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh in Hobart, and the gift-giving Christmas spirit flowed into Boxing Day for Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja — the pair scoring centuries courtesy of a hapless bowling attack.
So Windies captain Jason Holder instructed his bowlers to try a different tactic in an attempt to dislodge Joe Burns — bowling extremely wide of off stump. By doing that, Burns would be forced to either leave the ball and surrender scoring opportunities, or play an attacking shot well away from his body and increase the risk of getting out.
The visitors stacked their off-side field, so even if Burns did manage to get his bat to any of the offerings, it would have been difficult to pierce the field. He was clearly frustrated by the tactic, looking aggravated and shaking his head after seeing numerous deliveries sail past.
The situation came to a head in one Carlos Brathwaite over with umpire Marais Erasmus calling the right-arm quick for two wides — a rare occurrence in Test match cricket — in effect penalising the West Indian for negative cricket. Former players Ian Chappell and Shane Warne were scathing in their appraisal of the tactics.
“I’ve never been a fan of bowling wide of off stump,†said Warne.
“I’ve never been a fan of bowling wide and having a 7-2 field.â€
via
TeamStre.am by Bleacher Report
teamstre.am/22sHAIq