Chris Gayle has backed his West Indies side to cause an upset in their five match one-day international (ODI) series with Australia, which starts this morning in Melbourne. Despite the fact his side have not triumphed in a 50-over match since 2006, Gayle was bullish of his team's prospects against the world champions, even going as far as to boast: "We're going to beat them 4-1."
"I don't see any reason why we can't get it done. The wickets over here are very good to bat on. It should be even-steven going into this game. "Australia are playing some good cricket. They will be difficult to beat. It's an inexperienced team at this point in time but at the same time it's a lovely opportunity for the guys to step up against Australia and make a name for themself and then look forward to their career."
Australia may have Doug Bollinger back in their bowling attack after he was rested for the last two matches of their 5-0 series whitewash of Pakistan, but captain Ricky Ponting said his side cannot afford to live on past glories and must look to keep on improving. "Our one-day record over the last few months is very, very good but we can't afford to just be happy with what we've done," he said. "We have to keep moving forward."
Meanwhile, New Zealand play their second ODI against Bangladesh tomorrow in Dunedin and despite winning the first match on Friday by 146 runs their new coach Mark Greatbatch said he wants more from his bowlers. They dismissed a poor Bangladesh side for 190, but Greatbatch said: "We need to bowl a bit fuller. "Even if we do get hit down the ground, we're giving ourselves opportunities to pick wickets up early."
* With agencies Australia v West indies, 7.30am, Showsports 2