Voges faces further wait for Baggy Green

Right next to Antigua’s international airport is the decaying ruins of the Stanford Cricket Ground.

The legacy of a failed partnership between the West Indies Cricket Board and disgraced American billionaire Allen Stanford, the stadium is a very real representation of failed dreams.

On Thursday, a few kilometres down the road from the overgrown wastes of that ground, another cricketing dream appeared to come to an end, at least temporarily.

Adam Voges, the miracle man of Australia’s 2014-15 domestic summer, couldn’t conjure that one big score he needed to force his way into the Test team for next week’s series opener against the West Indies in Dominica.

The 35-year-old far from failed when given his chance in Australia’s three-day tour match against a WICB President’s XI making a patient 52, but it’s not going to be enough you feel to earn him that baggy green.

At the other end, the man he was most likely to unseat in the Test lineup – Shaun Marsh – was on his way to an unbeaten century.

Voges’ reaction as the umpire’s finger went up following an LBW appeal told the story.

The veteran’s shoulders slumped and his head dropped. He reluctantly turned on his heel to head back to the pavilion.

Marsh is still backing his fellow West Australian, saying it was Voges’ presence that went a long way to helping him reach his own milestone.

“It was really nice to be out there with Adam, we’re good mates,” Marsh said.

“I thought he batted fantastically well again. His form over the last 12-18 months has been unbelievable and every time he bats he scores runs.

“Copped a pretty good ball today and it’s good to have Vogesy on tour with us.”

With two Tests in the Caribbean and a full Ashes series to come on this tour, Voges’ Test dreams are far from scuppered.

But it seems the man whose waited longer than most to get his chance will have to wait just that bit longer.

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