Saturday 6 June 2015 16:08, UK
West Indies captain Denesh Ramdin believes his team will have learnt a very harsh lesson from the first Test defeat by Australia.
Australia won by nine wickets inside three days in Dominica to ensure retention of the Frank Worrell Trophy, the symbol of supremacy in Test cricket between the two teams since it was introduced over 50 years ago.
The tourists are expected to be unchanged for the second Test beginning in Kingston next Thursday and Ramdin admits his side have to improve markedly if they are to level the two-match series.
He said: "They are a very good unit and we need to play a lot tougher cricket when we are in positions of strength. It was a very difficult pitch to get a decent start. As we saw from Adam Voges once he got a start for Australia he carried on to get a big hundred for his team."
Some have questioned the omission of veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul ahead of the series, but Ramdin defended the decision to leave out the man who was just 87 runs away from surpassing Brian Lara as the most prolific West Indian batsman ever in Test cricket.
He said: "That decision has been made. His experience is countless but we have to move on. If Shane Dowrich could have carried on to get a hundred (in the second innings) it would have been brilliant.
"It's something he can learn from. He stood up against one of the best bowling line-ups in the world. I'm sure he's going to go from strength to strength."
Watch the second Test between West Indies and Australia live on Sky Sports 5 from 3.55pm on Thursday.
