Cricket Australia rejects Warne’s desire for day-night MCG Test

West Indies will be aiming to exploit some of the chinks in Australia’s armour which were exposed during the just concluded series against New Zealand.

Shane Warne’s pitch for this year’s MCG Test to be played under floodlights with a pink ball, to counteract the lack of interest in the West Indies’ team, was dismissed by Cricket Australia’s James Sutherland.

The 24-year-old all-rounder, however, said Australia’s series against New Zealand, which the hosts wrapped up 2-0 in Adelaide on Wednesday night, had revealed some chinks in the armour of the number two side in the world.

Holder said his young side would attack the likes of Shaun Marsh, his brother Mitch and Adam Voges in a batting order lacking consistency.

“We’ve seen weaknesses we can exploit”, he told his team’s first media conference since arriving in Australia.

I think if we get early wickets with the new ball, you can get guys like Shaun Marsh and those guys who are now trying to make their way back into the side, put them under some pressure to score. “Once we do that then it should be a relatively competitive series”.

To compensate for the lack of experience, Ambrose and Walsh are touring with the team to provide guidance.

But he said it would not be sheer pace and bravado that would blast out the Australian top order, as both Walsh and Ambrose did in their heyday. We need to make sure we take all the learnings we can from this first match, identify what has worked well and what needs improving, and make sure that future day/night Tests are as good, if not better. “We have to be skillful”.

Leading an inexperienced squad that suffered a 2-0 humbling in Sri Lanka on October, Holder is widely perceived to be embarking on a “Mission Impossible” over the next seven weeks.

But they still have a strong belief in a series upset.

West Indies last won a Test match against Australia in May 2003 when they chased down 418 runs in the fourth innings in Antigua to complete the highest successful chase in Test cricket history.

“We are constantly striving to give cricket fans what they want and as such, with the endorsement of visiting countries, we will seek to schedule more day-night Tests”, Sutherland said. “We have to play aggressive cricket, we have to play smart cricket”, he added.