Brathwaite slams comments by former Australian fast bowler

BRISBANE, Australia (CMC):

West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite said scathing criticism of his side by former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg inspired them to win the pink-ball second Test at the Gabba on Sunday.

Following their 10-wicket defeat inside three days in the Adelaide first Test, Hogg labelled the Caribbean side “hopeless and pathetic” and predicted that they would also lose the second Test heavily inside three days.

In a stunning twist, however, West Indies shocked the Aussies by eight runs just after lunch on the penultimate day here Sunday to clinch their first Test win on Australian soil in nearly three decades.

“I’m extremely proud. I must say we had two words that inspired us in this Test match,” Brathwaite said in unusually robust comments.

“Mr Rodney Hogg said that we were pathetic and hopeless, so that was our inspiration. We wanted to show the world we’re not pathetic, and I must ask him, ‘Are these muscles big enough for him?’”added the opening batsman while flexing his biceps.

West Indies, featuring three debutants in Adelaide, failed to put up an adequate fight, falling for 188 and 120 as the match finished before lunch on the third day.

Following the loss, the 72-year-old Hogg, who mustered only 22 wickets in 10 Tests against West Indies in the late 1970s and mid-1980s, told 10 News: “Let’s not beat around the bush: They were hopeless. We should have two divisions now. We can’t have these weak sides coming out here.

“Mitchell Starc with a brand-new pink ball, he’s going to run straight through them [at the Gabba]. So I wouldn’t think the game would go any further than three days. They’re pathetic.

“I look back at the West Indies of old, and we’re down stretching on the ground, and they’re running past in Speedos, and I’m going ‘Gee! Look at their muscles’. These days, the West Indies, they’d be running past in overcoats.”

West Indies’ victory bid was spearheaded by the charismatic Shamar Joseph, the 24-year-old fast bowler battling through a toe injury, to snatch a sensational seven for 68 to bowl Australia out for 207.

“Obviously, he’s a superstar, and I know he will do great things for West Indies in the future,” Brathwaite said.

“And just his belief! H told me today he’s not putting [the ball] down until [the game] is finished, and that’s an example for this team to follow.”