West Indies coach Phil Simmons wasn't watching either, but made it clear he'd be seeking out details and an explanation. "It can't be a good look," Simmons said. "It's a team trying to gain that sort of respect, so things like that, we have to make sure we cut them out." Not concentrating: Jerome Taylor. Credit:Getty Images Hancock reported that Taylor's teammates – who had alerted him to the incoming missile with frantic screams as it flew from bat to boundary – had "a little chuckle" and got on with things. "They sort of just brushed it off really and kept going. They didn't seem too fazed by it." He professed admiration for both the commitment and spirit shown by the beleaguered opposition, under Holder's enthusiastic leadership. After Travis Dean popped a Kemar Roach lifter to point in the fourth over, removing one of only two Victorians with first class experience, the locals made largely untroubled progress. Yet Hancock insisted they were made to toil hard for their runs. "They continued to challenge me for the whole game," said the 24-year-old, who has made five centuries this summer, including two for Victoria's second XI, and was disappointed the rain halted his pursuit of a sixth. "They might have missed that chance there. But the whole time I batted, they tested me."

He was particularly impressed with leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo, who bowled with control and variation. Simmons noted more "drive" in his deliveries, and will inspect the pitch for the Boxing Day Test with a possible change of pace in mind. Jason Holder sends down a delivery in the first Test. Credit:AP The early finish on Sunday merely underscored the folly of the tourists filling a near-two-week gap between the Hobart and Melbourne Tests with a solitary two-day fixture. Simmons was at a loss to explain the scheduling, saying he'd requested a four-day game when he first saw the tour itinerary. "I guess the details of that would have to come from back home," he said, referring to the West Indies Cricket Board, his employers with whom he has endured a rocky relationship. "I would love it to be a four-day game – 12 or something days in between the two Test matches with a two-day game is not ideal." The tourists will have a day off on Monday before training for three days and pausing to enjoy Christmas Day "as a family unit", Simmons said. He insisted they were working as hard as they could at practice. "And when the guys cross the line there's a lot to do with pride, as to how we portray ourselves on the field."

Loading The coach was pleased the goal of batsmen spending time at the crease in Geelong had been achieved by Kraigg Brathwaite and Jermaine Blackwood, but he dismissed the enigmatic Marlon Samuels' innings of 45 as inconsequential given the amount of runs he plundered off leg-spinner Jeremy Hart, who struggled to hit the pitch in his first spell. "I think when you look at the 45 he got, I think most of it were gifts. As I would look at it he still hasn't got a proper start yet. I think that's what I need him to get – if he gets a proper start I think he will go on to get a big score."