Gayle guides Windies onto shores of safety

Adelaide: Chris Gayle's unbeaten 11th Test century guided West Indies to a solid position against Australia on the fourth day of the second Test at the Adelaide Oval yesterday.

Gayle was unbeaten on 155 — his first Test century against Australia — as West Indies ended day four on 284-8, an overall lead of 296 runs.

Looking to capitalise on a solid start to their second innings, the West Indies were unable to dictate terms on the penultimate day to push for a victory.

The Australian bowlers, led by Mitchell Johnson's 4-85, were relentless in their bid to restrict their fourth-innings target so as not to relinquish their grip in the three-Test series which they already lead 1-0.

Dwayne Bravo's wicket gave Australia the opening they needed as the visitors lost four wickets for 33 runs with Gayle unable to stamp his usual authority. West Indies had added another 22 runs to their overnight score of 23-0 when Adrian Barath was run out for 17, before Mitchell Johnson had Ramnaresh Sarwan caught behind for seven.

Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul steadied the Windies innings with a 72-run stand before left-arm seamer Doug Bollinger trapped Chanderpaul in front of the stumps for 27.

Pakistan captaincy

Gayle, who was yet to make a mark in the series, played an uncharacteristically patient hand to bring up a century to lead his team from the front. Brendan Nash, who missed a century in the first innings, helped him stretch their lead, but not before Mitchell Johnson slipped a perfect yorker under his bat.

Gayle found little support after Bravo departed for 22 to Johnson again, as the left-armer along with Doug Bollinger bowled a hostile spell to restrict the West Indies at stumps.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was to decide whether to retain senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf as captain for the upcoming Test and one-day series against Australia.

With Younus Khan unavailable for the tour and Pakistan coming back well against New Zealand by winning the second Test, Yousuf is expected to lead the side at least in the Test series. But the PCB is yet to decide whether the reins of the one-day squad be also handed to Yousuf.

Indian board 'killing longer version'

 In a scathing attack on the Indian cricket board, Australian media yesterday said the financially strong Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is doing every bit to kill Test cricket even as their team has taken the top spot in the traditional format.

"India rule Test arena while trying to kill it," a Sydney Morning Herald header screamed.

"It is incredible that India, long seen as promoting the death of Test cricket by driving the proliferation of Twenty20 matches, has reached the sport's pinnacle."

India played only six Test matches this year, an away series against New Zealand in March followed by the just concluded three-Test series against Sri Lanka after a gap of seven months.

The scene is worse next year. India will tour Bangladesh for two Tests in January, and after playing countless ODIs and Twenty20s, will meet New Zealand in November for three Tests.

"If you cast an eye over the ICC's [International Cricket Council] Future Tours Programme (FTP) the answer may well be ‘no'. In a bizarre twist, India's ascension to the number one spot coincides with a period where the team will largely be inactive in the Test arena for the next two years," said the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The Sydney Morning Herald said: "A scheduled three-Test series against world No 2 South Africa has been cancelled, denying all cricket supporters of a major series that would have had significant impact on the rankings. Instead, the Proteas will play five one-dayers."

It also means that Indian fans will have to wait for a longer period to see their side play a Test series at home.

"The outrageous absence of home Tests for such a length of time underscores the problems faced by the traditional format.

"They won't admit it, but the fixtures are determined purely by television revenue."