Cricket: Walsh questions Aussie pace policy

Even West Indies fast bowling great Courtney Walsh has been left scratching his head over Australia's new pace obsession.

The fast bowling legend questioned the wisdom of picking 140kmh quicks for the sake of it, despite being part of the Windies' last great era that was based on blistering speed.

Australian selectors have raised eyebrows with their new fast bowling policy.

Especially after picking Nathan Coulter-Nile in the squad for this week's first test against the Windies in Hobart despite not having played a four-day game since March.

Walsh may have once featured in a dominant Windies attack that unleashed at times at least four lightning quicks.

The fearsome onslaught helped the Windies launch a 15-year unbeaten test series run from 1980.

But Walsh admitted he wouldn't attempt to rejuvenate the Windies' ailing test hopes by adopting Australia's approach any time soon.

"I think you have to play your best bowlers, if they happen to be quick then fine," said Walsh, who is travelling with the team on Australian tour as a selector.

"But I wouldn't be just selecting four bowlers just because they can bowl at 140kmh - maybe one or two.

"But you still want someone who can hit the right areas.

"It's about getting the right combination together."

That is also clearly a challenge for the Windies attack after being outclassed by a young Cricket Australia XI batting line-up in their embarrassing 10-wicket tour loss in Brisbane.

Only rested fast bowling spearhead Jerome Taylor was missing from the four-day match at Allan Border Field where the CA XI featuring six rookies amassed 444 in their first innings.

They were set a victory target of just 10 runs early on the fourth day.

But Walsh backed Windies captain Jason Holder's call that their bowlers could exploit Australia's batting "weaknesses".

"I think so. If we play to our true potential, and our batsmen settle and make a decent score, it will be a very, very interesting series," he said.

"I don't want to let the cat out of the bag but I am happy that they see weaknesses and I agree that there are weaknesses [in the Australian line-up].

"It's about zeroing in on them and executing. I hope to see that in Hobart."

Add a Comment

OUTSTREAM