Windies will target Aussies’ middle order

Cricket365
December 3, 2015

West Indies captain Jason Holder says the Caribbean team has come to Australia with a lot belief and will target the home team's middle order in the upcoming three-match Test series.

The Windies, who start their tour with three-day match against a Cricket Australia XI in Brisbane on Wednesday, are huge underdogs in a series the hosts are expected to win three-nil.

Holder though was bullish about his team's chances, saying that they watched the Aussies' recent Test series against New Zealand where they saw some opportunities to exploit, especially Australia's batting line up.

Holder told reporters: "We don't come with just some belief, we come with a lot of belief. If we don't believe, there's no point being here. We have to play aggressive cricket, we have to play smart cricket.

"The Australians are the number two-ranked side in the world. They will come at us pretty hard, as we saw in the Caribbean. "[In the Australia-New Zealand series] We saw weaknesses where we can exploit.

"There's some new faces, mixed with some guys who have been in rich veins of form. It's important that we put some pressure on their middle order.

"If we get early wickets with the new ball, we can get guys like Shaun Marsh, guys who are trying to make their way back into this side, put them under some pressure to score.

"Once we can do that it should be a relatively competitive series. They have some in-form batsmen, David Warner and Steve Smith, so it's just important that we put some pressure on their middle order."

The first Test of the series starts in Hobart on 10 December which will then be followed by the traditional Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Test in Sydney.