The visitors trail 0-1 in the three-Test series after Australia crushed them by an innings and 65 runs inside three days in the opening Test at Brisbane last week and few believe they have a prayer of hope of saving the series.
West Indies captain, Chris Gayle, however, said his side was focused on playing far more competitively in Adelaide than they did in Brisbane.
“Since we arrived, we have been training really hard, and the players are working around the clock,” said Gayle.
“We were below par in the first Test, but we have had some long discussions and meetings, and we are learning from our mistakes and correcting our errors.
“We are not expecting any favours from anyone. We know it is hard work and we know we have to work hard.”
Gayle holds the strong belief that Australia are beatable, but he emphasised it would call for a different approach from his side.
“If we are to turn things around in Adelaide [this week], we have to be a lot more disciplined than we were in the first Test,” he said in a newspaper column.
“This is where we are vulnerable, and where Ricky Ponting and his team have a big edge over us.”
He noted: “The balancing act for the West Indies as a team is to curb our natural attacking game a bit, but at the same time we have to be who we are.”
Gayle offered no excuses for West Indies’ swift decline in Brisbane, but he felt that critics had been unfair to condemn his side, following the exceptional circumstances they had to endure prior to the Test.
“It’s no secret that our performance in the first Test was well below par – in fact it was terrible,” he said.
“But people forget we have had a lot of things go against us. I had to fly home to see my sick mum, Ramnaresh Sarwan was injured at training, and then Jerome Taylor was injured during the Test. Any side would find it hard to deal with some of those things.”
Gayle also railed against the harsh criticism which West Indies cricket has faced in the aftermath from the people.
“People forget that Australia used to be in the same position – it spent a lot of time in the 1980s having to rebuild before it became a very good side,” he said.
“People are always speculating on what is the best way forward for West Indian cricket, but the first step is putting performances on the board at Test level.”
He added: “If we can start winning and being very competitive then everything else will follow. The good thing is we have some great young talent coming through.
“Things are tough, but stick with us because I have no doubt we will be in the top four sides in the World in the next five years or so.”
Gayle does not expect external factors like the Adelaide pitch to help West Indies, but felt the collective internal forces of his side like Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, and himself must come to the rescue.
“It was a total disaster for us in Brisbane on the best Test pitch we will find anywhere in Australia this summer,” he said.
“But there are some good signs coming into Adelaide. Ramnaresh Sarwan will be a good chance to play, which will really lift our batting group.
“And after talking with Shiv, I am expecting really big things from him. [He] is our No.1 batsman, and it is a big danger for Australia that he didn’t get among the runs in Brisbane. I am totally convinced he will get a big score.”
Sarwan batted in the nets at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday, as he races against time to be fit for the Test. He missed the first Test in Brisbane due to back trouble, and his stability was missed.
The axe is likely to fall on Brendan Nash meaning that Travis Dowlin should hold onto his place, and drop down the order to either five or six.
Selectors will also have to decide to boost the attack with either Darren Sammy or Gavin Tonge. This follows the return home of Jerome Taylor, after he sustained a left hip and lower back injury.
Meanwhile, Australia are sizing-up another three-day Test, and are fired up by the thought of more free time.
The Australians relished flying home for two days rather than flying directly to Adelaide following their victory.
They have had two concerns ahead of the Test. But Marcus North seems to be overcoming his bout of gastroenteritis, and left-arm fast bowler Doug Bollinger joins the line-up in place of Ben Hilfenhaus, the Man-of-the-Match from the first Test, whose sore left knee has sidelined him.
Head coach Tim Nielsen felt Australia would face a far more competitive West Indies, since the conditions should be a lot easier, but expected his side to still get the job done.
“I think it’s probably a different Test than it was in Brisbane,” he said. “In Brisbane the real challenge was not to get too carried away and try and bowl too fast and see the ball swing and bounce and zip all over the place.
“Here we see a real challenge for the blokes just to keep doing the right things for as long as they possibly can. It’ll be another learning curve, not dissimilar to what we face in India or those sorts of places.”
Squads: AUSTRALIA : Ricky Ponting (captain), Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Clint McKay, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson.
WEST INDIES : Chris Gayle (captain), Adrian Barath, Sulieman Benn, Dwayne Bravo, Shiv Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Gavin Tonge
UMPRIES: Ian Gould, Mark Benson, Video replays: Asad Rauf
