Cricket: Border stands guard

Australia 227-4 v West Indies

ALLAN BORDER responded to the intensifying debate over his future as Australian captain with the doggedness that has typified his lengthy tenure, on the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies at the MCG yesterday.

He walked out into the Melbourne sunshine half an hour before tea, the innings threatened with disintegration. Three wickets had fallen for 15 in eight overs, the elaborate new scoreboard flashed a perilous multi-coloured message of 115 for 4 to a crowd of 49,414. They realised that Australia's fate rested, yet again, with the left-hander leading them in a Test for the 72nd time, equalling Clive Lloyd's record for West Indies.

Border has been under pressure following his hefty fine for dissent against umpiring decisions in the first Test followed by a public row with his team management and an enforced rest that kept him out of the last four one-day internationals with a strained hamstring muscle. All this served only to sharpen his fighting instincts.

In company with the classy Mark Waugh, Border saw Australia through to the end without further loss. His unbeaten half-century took two-and-a-half hours, while Waugh's 63 was compiled in just over three hours. They combined for an unbroken partnership of 112.

Border batted with such assurance that the 135 he needed at the start to join India's Sunil Gavaskar as the second batsman to reach 10,000 Test runs looked well within his grasp. The 248 that would carry him past Gavaskar's pinnacle of 10,122 was not entirely out of the question against an attack whose preparation has been severely hampered by the weather.

Missed by the wicketkeeper David Williams off Ambrose when five, Border gave little encouragement to the opposition who were without their captain, Richie Richardson, in the final session, resting a strained side muscle back in the dressing-room. Waugh stifled his natural aggression for well over an hour and did not hit his first boundary until his 67th ball, but by then was accelerating with wristy on- drives and confident cuts.

He arrived an hour and a quarter into the second session to replace his twin brother, Steve, who was the first of the three mid-afternoon wickets. West Indies, though, failed to press home their advantage. Williams missed his second, awkward, chance when Waugh, 23, moved out to drive Carl Hooper and the keeper failed to gather the stumping. It could be an expensive miss.

(Australia won toss)

AUSTRALIA - First Innings

D C Boon c Williams b Walsh 46

M A Taylor c Lara b Walsh 13

S R Waugh c Lara b Ambrose 38

M E Waugh not out 63

D R Martyn c Simmons b Ambrose 7

* A R Border not out 51

Extras (lb7 w1 nb1) 9

Total (for 4, 92 overs) 227

Fall: 1-38 2-100 3-104 4-115.

To bat: G R J Matthews, I A Healy, M G Hughes, C J McDermott, S K Warne.

Bowling: Ambrose 20-9-29-2; Bishop 17-1-53-0; Simmons 10-2-23-0; Walsh 24-8-53-2; Hooper 19-3-49-0; Adams 2-0-13-0.

WEST INDIES: * R B Richardson, D L Haynes, P V Simmons, B C Lara, K L T Arthurton, C L Hooper, J C Adams, D Williams, I R Bishop, C E L Ambrose, C A Walsh.

Umpires: S Randall and C Timmins.