West Indies Captain Denesh Ramdin appeared a relaxed figure at Sabina Park yesterday as he shared his thoughts with local and international media on the eve of the Test in Kingston.

But the wicketkeeper/batsman, still young in his role as skipper of the Test team, says senior players, himself included, have to come to the fore against the formidable Australians in the second Test which begins today.

“It’s very good when you have senior players come to the party because the younger players grow off the confidence of those players. I’d like to do something good this Test match so that younger players feel relaxed and there’s less pressure on them,” Ramdin told a throng of reporters.

West Indies were miles outplayed by Australia in the opening Test, though the hosts were far from running at full throttle.

No batsman reached fifty in the West Indies’ first innings score of 148. Leg-break bowler Devendra Bishoo, former ICC Young Player of the Year, grabbed six wickets in Australia’s reply, but an unbeaten hundred by debutante Adam Voges kept the visitors in charge.

Experienced batsman Marlon Samuels and newcomer Shane Dowrich both hit resolute half-centuries while adding 144 runs for the fourth wicket, but their contribution aside, West Indies were again woeful with the bat and were dismissed for 216. That left Australia to romp to a nine-wicket victory.

Ramdin, 30, conceded that batting collapses have haunted the team.

“It’s been happening to us probably the last six, seven, eight months. I think it’s very important that when a wicket falls we try to build partnerships. It happens sometimes [that] you lose two quick wickets, but we are losing three and four and that costs us Test matches,” he said.

“Hopefully the guys learn from that and adapt better. It’s a [matter of] mindset and reading and understanding the game. It’s a young team that we have,” he said, referring to the inexperienced batting trio of Shai Hope, Dowrich and Jermaine Blackwood.

— Sanjay Myers