Clark's 'executive' spell helps Aussies

Ponting proud of last day fightback:

Jonathan Gaskin

Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes it was gratifying to see his side fight back and conquer West Indies in the opening Test on Monday at Sabina Park.

A rare batting collapse in their second innings saw Australia set West Indies 287 for victory, but Stuart Clark captured a career-best five wickets for 32 runs to bowl Australia to a 95-run win.

"It's been a pretty good Test from first day to last," Ponting said. "It was pretty entertaining. Our best overall cricket was probably played on the first day and the last.

"We spoke at length before the start (on Monday) about how we wanted to attack them, what we needed to do, and how we wanted to execute things if we wanted to win the game.

"I think coming into the final day, the game was in the balance. I do not think any side could really say they had their noses in front.

"I guess if you look historically, 212 was the highest winning total at this ground. We knew we had to start well and not give their batsmen any momentum. "We knew if we kept it pretty tight and put their batsmen under pressure, we had a good chance of getting wickets along the way."

West Indies crashed to 117 for six at lunch on the final day and never looked like recovering, handing Australia a 1-0 lead in the three-Test series which Ponting believes has fortified his team's resolve to not take their opponents lightly.

"I think what this victory shows us is that if we execute well, we are going to be very competitive in a day's play or a Test match," he said. "This is what we had to get out of our bowling and fielding on the last day.

We had to make sure we were switched on and we were prepared to play some really hard tough Test match cricket. "I really do not think that for the middle three days we did it. We just played a bad shot when we did not need to do it, or we probably over-attacked with the ball in their first innings, but we were unrelenting on the last day and we did not give any opportunities for them to get themselves back into the game.

"It's a great reinforcement for our group going into the next Test." .Ponting also hailed Clark for his bowling and disclosed that his role in the side is well recognised and respected.

"He's averaged 20 in 16 or so Test matches, and that's a really great achievement, especially when he hasn't bowled with the new ball on a lot of those occasions, and we're playing on a lot pitches like like this, where you just have to probably go against what you do in Australia and find different ways of working batsmen over and getting them out.

"He's been the guy a bit like Glenn McGrath was when he was in the side. Whatever the situation required, you know that he'll come in and get the job done for you. KINGSTON, Tuesday (AFP)