Australia couldn’t be in better shape as they prepare to embark on their three-pronged redemption mission over the next seven months before then gearing up for The Ashes.
The clinical grind to overcome a stubborn West Indies side in Perth was up there with their third Test win over Pakistan earlier this year for perseverance.
They received few favours from a batting-friendly pitch but toiled hard over the course of 210 overs across the two innings to accumulate the 20 wickets.
Australia scored at a healthy 4.1 runs per over – not BazBall ballistic but quick enough.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It was their 17th win from the past 27 Tests with five losses and five draws in that timeframe since Steve Smith and David Warner returned to the team following their ball-tampering bans.
During their time out, Australia lost three consecutive series to South Africa, Pakistan and India, which had not happened since four on the trot in 1984-86 during the dark days of the Kim Hughes-Allan Border transition period.
They’ve revived their ranking from a lowly fifth to No.1 and after missing the inaugural World Test Championship by the barest of margins due to a points deduction for a slow over rate, they are sitting pretty at the top of the standings heading into the final at The Oval in June.
That will be the third step in their redemption mission.
Getting the better of the Proteas at home and India on tour are the first two steps towards reclaiming their status as undisputed Test kings.
They’ve already cancelled out their 2018 series loss to Pakistan by beating them home and away.
David Warner of Australia reacts to being bowled by Jayden Seales of the West Indies. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Warner’s woes only worry
Australia are not quite 10-feet tall and bulletproof as a Test side yet.
Veteran opener David Warner’s form is not what it needs to be in the red-ball arena and hasn’t been for a couple of years.
His defenders are coming out and saying the usual tropes at times like this that “class is permanent, form is temporary” but the fact is he’s just turned 36 and younger rivals are in form at Sheffield Shield level, headed by Queensland’s Matt Renshaw.
Warner’s scores of five and 48 in Perth mean he has now gone 23 Test innings since his last hundred, notching just four half-centuries in his 626 runs at 28.45.
He won’t get a better chance to show he’s not a spent force than taking on a depleted West Indies attack at the batting paradise of the Adelaide Oval.
The NSW left-hander averages 76.86 at the famous venue with 1153 runs from nine Tests, including his career-best 335 not out against Pakistan in 2019.
If he can’t strike form against the Windies in Adelaide, the three-Test series against the Proteas could be his last even though he’s stated he wants to conquer India and correct the Ashes tour blemish on his resume before giving up the five-day format.
The Australian selectors showed last year with Marcus Harris that they will give batters an extra Test or two in a bid to find form when they’re struggling and Warner has ample credits in the bank from more than a decade at the top of the order, but the numbers don’t lie.
It will be tough for a player like Renshaw to come into the side in any circumstances, particularly if his first Test back is on a raging turner in India in February without a match in more familiar Australian conditions beforehand.
Lyon king of the West
It’s rare for Nathan Lyon to get one up on the late, great Shane Warne but he’s done so in Perth.
Lyon was dogged by comparisons to Warne early in his career before showing he’s a great spinner in his own right on his way to taking 446 Test wickets from 111 matches.
His match haul of 8-189 at Optus Stadium against the Windies lifted his career tally in Perth to 37 wickets in eight Tests at 30.41.
The 35-year-old has equalled Warne as the spinner with the most Test wickets in the WA capital although the leg-spin legend took 12 Tests to snare his 37 at 36.45.
Spinners struggle in the West with local off-spinner Bruce Yardley (19 at 25.73 in four Tests from 1978-82) the next best.
Lyon has a particular penchant for the newer of Perth’s venues, bagging 22 at 18.45 in the only three Tests at the ground, to be well clear of pace trio Mitchell Starc (18 at 18.77), Pat Cummins (nine at 21.77) and Josh Hazlewood (seven at 27.85).
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