Chanders: Time to look ahead

"It’s gone already. We have to still take the positives out of the three games," said Chanderpaul, following Australia’s seven-wicket victory after lunch on the final day of the third Test at the Adelaide Oval that gave the hosts a 3-0 whitewash of their opponents in the series.

"The way we went about the last Test here was really good. We can take the positives of that effort home and if we continue that way on our next tour, once we get it right, things are going to happen for us."

The 31-year-old Guyanese is not the first to attempt to sound an optimistic note in the face of such a setback. Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara (in two terms), Jimmy Adams and Carl Hooper all experienced the humiliation of their teams being swept in a Test series away from home.

All tried to put a positive spin on the situation, although Chanderpaul’s claims were not entirely without merit given the emergence of Dwayne Bravo as a genuine all-rounder and the general competitiveness of the Caribbean side at various stages of the three Tests.

Indeed, they were on course for a healthy first innings lead in Adelaide before cautious tactics let Australia off the hook at 295 for eight in reply to the West Indies first innings total of 405.

The hosts eventually earned a 23-run lead after which a succession of umpiring errors hindered the visitors in their quest for a first Test victory in Australia since February, 1997.

Pakistani official Aleem Dar was the chief culprit while his New Zealand counterpart Billy Bowden took exception to the exuberance of some of the West Indies fielders on the final morning.

"The umpires probably thought we were chirping a bit too much and asked the guys to just keep it down a bit," Chanderpaul explained, adding that the chattiness did not seem to him to be unusual.

"It was normal I thought. It was good to see everyone keen and wanting to do well on the last day."

Wary of the penalties for criticising the umpires publicly, the West Indies skipper steered clear of any comment on their work in the match but suggested that greater use of television replay technology was not necessarily the way out of the dilemma.

"You would like to leave it as it is, for the umpires on the field to make the decisions. If you bring in all the technology, the umpires wouldn’t have a job again," he said in a less than convincing tone.

"There’s not much I can say about it really. We’re happy with them out there."

Chanderpaul poured cold water on speculation that Lara was retiring from international cricket, explaining that the champion left-hander’s speech at the post-match ceremony was in appreciation of the support of the fans over the years in Australia.

"It couldn’t have been better to go out that way, except that the double-century would have been even better for him if we had won also."