Windies paceman Roach not too cocky

27 Nov 2009, 2:31 am   -   Source: AAP
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Whatever pearls former quick Corey Collymore passed on to West Indies speedster Kemar Roach ahead of the first Test against Australia, we will never know.

Whatever pearls former quick Corey Collymore passed on to West Indies speedster Kemar Roach ahead of the first Test against Australia at Brisbane, we will never know.

But it seems to be working okay after Roach led a spirited Windies attack to almost share honours on day one.

Despite winning the toss on a good batting deck, Australia were restricted to 5-322 at stumps by an inexperienced - and hugely underrated - Windies.

Roach was breathing fire on the field but appeared to undergo a metamorphosis off it, going coy when asked what tips his mentor Collymore passed on ahead of the massive challenge that awaited him in Brisbane.

"That's personal," Roach said.

The Windies looked like they might need all the advice they could get ahead of the match, with their rookie outfit weakened even further by the pre-match withdrawal of key batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan.

But Roach and fellow new ball partner Jerome Taylor led from the front, to keep Australia honest from the outset.

Collymore - who took four wickets in an innings the last time he played a Gabba Test in 2005 - obviously passed on some good advice, with Roach looking much better than his 1-50 return off 16 overs.

"Roach has got some good pace," said Mike Hussey who made 66 on Thursday.

"He certainly hurried us all up."

Roach landed the prized scalp of Australian captain Ricky Ponting for 55, caught behind off a peach of a delivery to break a 126-run second wicket stand with Simon Katich (92).

But Roach should have had Ponting LBW for 53, however the Windies opted not to use the umpire review system which would have showed the skipper was plumb in front.

Taylor was just as good early, reducing Australia to 1-0 when he had Shane Watson LBW for a duck in the third over.

While there were two dropped catches and some red faced moments in the field by gangly spinner Sulieman Benn, Roach said the Windies walked off the field happy with what they saw on the scoreboard.

"I am pretty satisfied, the guys put in a lot of work - there were some chances missed but to claim five wickets was good," he said.

"It is a good batting wicket and the ball wasn't really doing much but I thought we had a good day." The good in the field seemed to outshine the bad for the Windies on Thursday.

The towering Benn looked clumsy at times, especially when he dropped Katich on 81.

But at the other end of the scale, skipper Chris Gayle took a wonderful diving effort at slip to dismiss Michael Clarke (41) off Dwayne Bravo (2-66).

"It's a pretty good batting pitch out there so considering the conditions they did a pretty good job," Hussey said.

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