Waugh's return will come at the expense of in-form Western Australian batsman Damien Martyn, who played impressively in unbeaten innings of 46 and 34 after coming into the team as Waugh's replacement in Adelaide. Despite Australia having secured the Frank Worrell Trophy with its third win of the series in Adelaide, Waugh said his side found ample motivation in the chance to become the first team to make a clean sweep of an Australia-West Indies series. We've got a good opportunity to win 14 in a row. We're looking at things like that. The West Indies have never been beaten 5-0 in a series, so there's plenty to play for.
Spots are up for grabs and guys want to keep up a high standard.
On that front, the Austalians need not have looked any further than the players beside them yesterday. Among an array of net bowlers at the MCG session were two players with Test hat-tricks, Victorians Shane Warne and Damien Fleming. Warne continues to progress well in his return from a broken ring finger on his right hand, although he did not rip his leg-spinners yesterday. Fleming is fit again after suffering disc problems in his neck. West Indies captain Jimmy Adams said selectors would consider naming leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo for the match, but said he would examine the pitch again today before going down that road.