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To spin or not to spin? Waugh ponders best bowling option for Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Australia faced a selection quandary on the eve of the traditional Boxing Day test Tuesday as skipper Steve Waugh set eyes on beating the West Indies 5-0 for the first time to retain the Frank Worrell trophy. Waugh, returning to the side after missing the series-winning clash in Adelaide, faces a fitness test on his strained buttock while leg-spinner Stuart MacGill and off-spinner Colin Miller could split the selectors. Australia has not played two spinners in Melbourne since leg-spinner Shane Warne was partnered by off-spinner Tim May and claimed a hat-trick against England in the 295-run win in the second test in December 1994. Teams have traditionally depended heavily on the fast bowlers to break the opposition and three quicks have been a norm in recent Australian teams. "I am not scared of breaking from tradition," Waugh said. "It's nice to have tradition but you can make your own and do things differently. "If it (pitch) suits two spinners and they're bowling well and the opposition batters don't play spin all that comfortably, (then) I don't see any problems playing two spinners." How the new drop-in wicket square at the Melbourne Cricket Ground will behave remains a mystery. The West Indies was beaten badly in a four-day tour match by Victoria on the new surface before the first test of the series. "It's a new wicket and you get different reports how it's going to play," said Waugh. "You have to guess a little bit and go with your gut feeling, how the wicket's going to look and how its going to play." Miller's ability to bowl medium pace to add to his off spin has been seen as a great asset but Waugh disagrees and doesn't think it will help the 36-year-old to get a final nod. While Miller bowled Australia to victory in Adelaide with a 10-wicket haul, MacGill had a poor match and was hammered around the Oval by star batsman Brian Lara during his innings of 182 and 39. "I can't see it as a forefront when you're picking a side. I don't think it's going to swing a selection vote in his (Miller's) way." "I am going to sit on the fence on this one. They're both very good bowlers and I don't know who I am going to pick." If Waugh, 35, passes a fitness test, the record-breaking captain will oust the in-form batsman Damien Martyn from the side that won in Adelaide by five wickets. Waugh said beating the tourists 5-0 remains the biggest motivating factor for the side that has already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead. "That's what we're playing for. We want to win the last two tests. We'll be disappointed if we don't. "I think there is too much at stake. We've got an opportunity to win 14 in a row. We're looking at things like that." West Indies skipper Jimmy Adams would love a test win as a Christmas present but it remains wishful thinking after having come narrowly close to ending Australia's record-breaking winning streak in the last test. "As a group we would like to prove to everyone but mostly to ourselves that we're capable of carrying on our performances for five days," Adams said. He said the atmosphere during a Boxing Day test alone would be sufficient to lift his young side in one of the biggest test arenas. "There is that feeling that we had a very good opportunity (in Adelaide) to bat ourselves into a position that would have made it very difficult for the Australians to win," said Adams. "It was something we had control over and we didn't execute it very well." Adams faces the first clean sweep as captain but remains optimistic it will not be so. "I don't think anybody wants to lose 5-0 here," the skipper said. The West Indies made one change to the third test side, replacing struggling fast bowler Marlon Black with 26-year-old debutante right-arm fast bowler Colin Stewart. Australia (from): Steve Waugh (captain), Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Stuart MacGill, Colin Miller, Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel and Glenn McGrath. West Indies: Sherwin Campbell, Daren Ganga, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams (captain), Marlon Samuels, Ridley Jacobs, Nixon McLean, Mervyn Dillon, Colin Stuart and Courtney Walsh. Umpires: Simon Taufel (Australia) and Srini Venkataraghavan (India). Television umpire: Richard Patterson. Match referee: A.C.(Alan) Smith (England)
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