Fielding howler adds to Windies woes in draw against Australia

Jerome Taylor misses a catch off Victoria XI’s Jake Hancock, who was batting on 22, because the West Indian was leaning on fence with his back to the action

Geelong (Australia): An embarrassing fielding blunder added to the woes of the beleaguered West Indies in their final hit-out yesterday before the second Test against Australia on Boxing Day.

Jerome Taylor. Pic/Getty Images

The Caribbean tourists, who were hammered by an innings in the first Test in Hobart, declared overnight at 303 for eight in their two-day game with a Victoria XI in Geelong.

The inexperienced locals were 169 for three in reply when play was abandoned on the final day by rain, with an unprofessional piece of fielding from Jerome Taylor helping their cause. Jake Hancock finished 80 not out but should have been dismissed on 22.

Skipper Jason Holder was bowling in the 14th over when Hancock hooked the ball to fine leg where Taylor was fielding. It what should have been a regulation catch, but Taylor was inexplicably leaning on the fence with his back to play, gazing into a near-empty grandstand. “It can’t be a good look. It’s a team trying to gain that sort of respect, so things like that, we have to make sure we cut them out,” coach Phil Simmons told reporters.

Taylor only turned around when teammates yelled that the ball was heading in his direction. He awkwardly attempted to stop the ball but it bounced past for a dispiriting boundary. Hancock could not believe his luck.

“It was pretty good that. I definitely got away with one there. He wasn’t even on the field, was he?” Hancock said. The tourists never looked like running through a local side that featured students, an electrician, a policeman and two players with first-class experience.

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