BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) - West Indies coach John Dyson refused to be critical of his batsmen after the Caribbean side handed Australia a 35-run first innings lead on the second day of the third Digicel Test at Kensington Oval yesterday.
After dismissing the world champions for 251, West Indies failed to capitalise and were dismissed for 216.
The display was met with some criticism from fans, but Dyson was not too perturbed.
"I don't think the batsmen threw it all away just like that. We are disappointed with the batting effort and the batsmen would be the first to admit that," he told reporters.
"Shiv batted beautifully again, as Shiv always does. That was a positive."
Shivnarine Chanderpaul made an unbeaten 79, having occupied the crease for three and three-quarter hours in sustaining his rich form.
A few of his teammates, including the first four batsmen in the order, however, fell to aggressive strokes.
"I don't know about soft dismissals. It's a very, very fine line. You want players to be aggressive, particularly on wickets that offer a bit of pace and bounce," Dyson said.
"You want them to play their shots and you applaud like crazy when it comes off. On that fine line when it doesn't come off, you want to term that 'throwing it away'. I don't quite follow that."
West Indies lost their first three wickets for 64 and the last six fell for 48.
On the opening day, Australia also lost wickets through aggressive strokes and with the West Indies following suit, Dyson said it was a reflection of a change in approach to the modern game.
"Both sets of batsmen have found themselves on a wicket that offers a bit more pace, a bit more bounce, more opportunities for scoring and they've gone after them. That is the way cricket is being played these days," he said.
"The Australians started this a number of years ago about getting a total on the board in the first innings as quickly as you can.
"What we would like to do is get more runs on the board. We are not converting our 20s and 30s often enough. So occasionally the shot selection isn't spot-on, the execution isn't spot-on and occasionally you get out to a superb catch."