Given the unfortunate state of West Indies cricket, many expected the Caribbean team to be whitewashed 3-0 by Australia when the Test series began, just over two weeks ago.

That expectation seemed all but fulfilled when the West Indies went down to an innings defeat in less than three days in the first Test at Brisbane.

The venom that spewed from the Australian press in the immediate aftermath of that crushing defeat took even the most seasoned among us by surprise. There were assertions from respected writers and commentators, including former cricketers — some of whom were repeatedly humbled by the great Caribbean teams of the 1980s and early ’90s — that the West Indies, in effect, were so poor they should not be on the same field as the Australians.

From this distance, we sense that these criticisms took little or no account of events that so gravely affected the tourists. There was apparently no thought given to the fact that the West Indies had only just come back together following the embarrassing industrial relations impasse that resulted in makeshift teams representing the region against touring Bangladesh and subsequently in the Champions Trophy. The circumstances dictated that the West Indies team led by Mr Chris Gayle was underprepared in every respect at the start of the Australian tour.

Also, the tour had barely got started when Mr Gayle had to rush back home to be by the bedside of his ailing mother. By the time of his return to Australia — having travelled thousands of miles in opposite directions across time zones over a few days — only 24 hours remained for the start of that first Test. To make matters worse, Mr Ramnaresh Sarwan, one of the top three batsmen in the West Indies team, suffered back problems on the eve of the first Test and had to withdraw. And as if that was not enough, the lead bowler, Mr Jerome Taylor, broke down injured on the first day and has since returned home.

In such circumstances, it was surely unreasonable to expect the West Indies team to put up much of a fight in that first Test.

That they found it within themselves to rally so gallantly in the second, to the point where they had the mighty Australians fighting with backs to the wall to avoid defeat on the last day, is worthy of high commendation. This newspaper feels especially proud of Mr Gayle who responded to the vitriol or, as he puts it, “the negativity” with a brilliant unbeaten second innings century to be compared with any by the great West Indian openers down the years.

Of course, there is much more to be done on this current tour. The West Indies team will go to Perth in Western Australia for next week’s final Test knowing that, while they remain underdogs, they have gained new respect. Mr Gayle and his men should also have the confidence born of knowledge that their relative success at Adelaide is a continuation of steady improvement in the Test arena over the last two years — the high point of which was their 1-0 series triumph over England in the Caribbean at the start of the year. That’s the same England which defeated Australia in mid-year in England.

At bottom line though, as we have said previously in this space: win, lose or draw, what we most desire from the West Indies team is that they give of their very best.