Canberra, Australia – West Indies allrounder Andre Russell touched down in Australia for the first time on Saturday and immediately got down to business. The 24-year-old said he is excited about the prospect of playing Down Under and has big plans for the upcoming five-match One-Day International Series and one-off T20 International.
“This is my first time in Australia and I’m looking forward to doing my best here. Down here we can expect bouncy wickets and that is good because of the way I play in terms of bowling and batting, so I am looking forward to a good series,” said the right-arm seamer, who is also a capable batsman and athletic fielder.
“Bravo (Dwayne Bravo), Pollard (Kieron Pollard) and myself, we have we discussed the length that is good to bowl here in Australia, and whenever you’re batting you can be a lot more relaxed because the bounce is a lot more consistent in terms of the pitches.”
West Indies will have an afternoon training session on Monday at the Manuka, the same venue where they will play their tour-opener against the Prime Minister’s XI on Tuesday. First ball is 2:20 pm (11:20 pm Monday Eastern Caribbean Time/10:20 pm Monday Jamaica Time).
“It is very important to get a good start. The warm-up match will be a good contest and we won’t be holding back. Getting a few wickets and making some runs – at least a half-century – that would be a good start for me on Australian soil,” Russell said.
The last time West Indies and Australia met, the two teams played to a 2-2 series result – with the other match being tied. During that series in the Caribbean last March, Russell played a crucial role in the action-packed matches in at Arnos Vale in St Vincent and Beausejour in St Lucia.
Overall in his ODI career he has made 30 appearances with 595 runs at 31.31 per innings, including a topscore of 92 not out against India. He has 39 wickets at 29.94 each, including five four-wicket hauls.
“I am looking forward to doing well again against Australia. I’ve gotten some good scores against them and put on a crucial partnership with Sammy, but we couldn’t get the job done they way we would’ve liked to get it done in that game,” Russell added.
“I’ve got a few four-wicket hauls against them so I’m looking forward to at least getting a five this time and boost my career a bit.”
SQUAD:
Darren Sammy (Captain)
Dwayne Bravo (Vice Captain)
Tino Best
Darren Bravo
Johnson Charles
Narsingh Deonarine
Chris Gayle
Jason Holder
Sunil Narine
Kieron Pollard
Kieran Powell
Kemar Roach
Andre Russell
Ramnaresh Sarwan
Devon Thomas
Schedule of matches
January
Tuesday 29: vs Prime Minister’s XI – Manuka Oval, Canberra
February
Friday 1: 1st One-Day International – WACA, Perth
Sunday 3: 2nd One-Day International – WACA
Wednesday 6: 3rd One-Day International – Manuka Oval
Friday 8: 4th One-Day International – SCG, Sydney
Sunday 10: 5th One-Day International – MCG, Melbourne
Wednesday 13: T20 International – The Gabba, Brisbane
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