Australian opener Ed Cowan has praised his fellow top-order batsmen for sharing the scoring load during their tour of the West Indies.
Cowan and former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting both scored half-centuries on day three of the third Test, meaning all of Australia's top seven batsmen have made at least one 50 on the tour.
Cowan (55) and Ponting (57) played a key role on Wednesday, helping Australia to 200-6 by the end of the day's play, meaning the visitors now lead the West Indies by 310 runs in the third Test.
'Over 300 to chase is a hell of a lot of runs and I think the contributions from guys, yeah, haven't been huge, admittedly, which provides a little bit of ammunition (to criticise) if you're looking for it,' Cowan said.
'But at the same time, it has provided scores that's putting pressure on them to respond and as we've seen they are really heavily reliant on (Shivnarine Chanderpaul) to perform (when batting).'
Australia's batsmen have been criticised in some quarters for a lack of centuries on the tour, with wicketkeeper Matthew Wade the only tourist to have reached three figures in Tests this series. But Cowan defended his colleagues returns, citing the challenge of adjusting to tricky local surfaces.
'I think you guys here on the ground would appreciate how hard batting has been in this series,' Cowan said.
'People (at home), because of the time zone, haven't watched a lot of cricket.
'They click on a link to see the score in the morning and they go, 'Cowan 28, Ponting 30, these guys are struggling'.
'Well, it's bloody hard work.
'You need to see the ball spitting and turning the way it is to appreciate that.
'If you're just judging people's form by looking at scorecards, you're not doing the game full justice.'
Cowan and Ponting's 87-run partnership stabilized Australia's second innings after the visitors lost two wickets in the first nine overs.
The opener believes his connection with fellow Tasmanian Ponting played a part, although he joked their running between the wickets could be improved after Cowan almost ruined the former captain's innings just before tea.
'There's a certain kindred spirit there I guess,' Cowan said.
'He's been a huge help to me, so I feel like the guy at the other end really cares about what I'm doing at my end and when that happens I think really good partnerships and bonds and batting friendships can develop and I feel like that's developing.
'I probably need to stop trying to run him out occasionally but so far so good.'
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