Smith: ‘Windies wouldn’t come to the party’

Cricket365
February 21, 2016

Australia Test captain Steve Smith says he tried to make day five of the third Test against the West Indies into something that could end in a positive result, but the West Indies did not accept his offer.

With most of the match rained off, day five saw the Windies still batting in the first innings. They were all out for 330. Smith said he offered to declare his side's first innings on 0/0, and then chase the deficit, but Jason Holder declined.

Smith whose side had already won the series at this point, said on the CA website: "He (Holder) said 'give me five minutes' and went over to their team and they had a little huddle and chat or whatever they were doing.

"No-one really wants to see a draw, they want to see good exciting cricket with teams winning. But he (Holder) said their boys weren't up for the challenge. That was unfortunate.

"I thought it was pretty generous, it would have taken some very good batting to get that on a day five SCG wicket.

"We want to try and win every game we play and today was a perfect opportunity to set the game up for a good chase and for the fans that stayed out this afternoon.

"I think that’s a fair game for both teams and it’s just disappointing they weren't willing to come to the party."

Holder, meanwhile, justified the call by saying they didn't need the risk of another defeat to recover from, no matter how unlikely: "It was a team vote, a team decision.

"I think we just need to take it step by step, it’s not a case where you can just jump from losing Test matches to winning in one transition, especially against good opposition like Australia.

"So we just thought at this stage of our development it was best to give Ramdin (who was in the middle overnight) an opportunity to build on what he had started and for us to bat out some overs."