Err... lost 8 for 37 to lose by 16 runs (has anyone ever thrown away such an easy victory from such a near-unassailable position?) in the only Test that had a result?
That sufficient explanation?
No. You obviously didn't see it live so I don't think you're really in a position to comment. I know *I* didn't see it either because it wasn't televised here. What snippets I've seen over the years have been of poor quality so it's possible that it wasn't fully televised in SL either.
As for the WI vs Aus 1992/93 series, how did Australia fail to win? It's a painful one to remember but I do remember that the WI came to Australia slightly under-done and with a young team batting-wise (Phil Simmons, Brian Lara, Keith Arthurton were all newbies). Arthurton's 157 in the first Test was all-class and when the Aussie replied with over 300, I thought they were in with a chance. Then Craig McDermott ripped through them in the second dig and it looked to be all over, especially when Merv strangled Ritchie down the leg-side. But I do remember Ian Bishop dug in really well. He survived some awfully close LBW's, though.
The second Test, Mark Waugh and AB's partnership did the job for the Aussies, really. The WI were on the back-foot from that point onwards. This Test and previous one showed how valuable Merv was to the team too; I remember he wasn't taking huge bags of wickets but managed to knock over the top-3 (especially Dessie) regularly and put them on the back foot a few times. Notwithstanding Phil Simmons' absolutely brilliant knock, Warnie wrapped it up.
Now, here's where I reckon it went wrong for the Aussies; the WI piled on a decent score in Sydney on the back of Brian's 277 (incredible knock; most of his boundaries were along the carpet all the way) and momentum swung a bit. Next thing, WI on the back of Curtly won the ODI series and it looked as if he'd finally gotten fed-up with maybe being in the first WI side to lose a series in many years.
Then Adelaide rolled around and THE closest Test I've seen (it had a weird tension all the way through that even the close one's in Ashes 2005 didn't quite have). The scorecards will tell you that it was close all the way through but as soon as Ambi took 6-fer in Australia's first-dig, they must have had flash-backs to the WI of old because it was seriously nasty bowling. He'd finally lost his temper, I guess. As you can see, only three guys passed 50 for the match and that tells you how tight the game was, punctuated by when Boonie had to retired hurt in the first-innings from an Ambi bumper which kept lower than he thought and slammed into his arm. Not to mention Justin Langer's 4th ball bumper from Bishop which belted him in the helmet. The bowling was really nasty; reminiscent of the previous series in the Carribean although that had it through the whole series. Tim May taking 5/9 was pretty special I must admit and that kept the Aussies in with a shout.
Unfortunately, Ambi hit his straps again and tore through the top-order. The bowling was so good, even AB was out fending a ball to short-leg. Langer hung around but when Tim May came out, I'm sure he was thinking it might be over. Incidentally, I've never seen such a tough first Test for anyone as Langer got. He got hit so many times, Inside Edge did a two page article showing on a picture of him where he'd been hit. I reckon it was at least 40 times on his helmet, shoulders, chest, torso and legs. Langer eventually went caught-behind trying to hook one yet somehow Billy and Tim May (on his 30th birthday if I recall correctly; was definitely his birthday, though) kept the Aussies in it. The WI came so close to outs on so many occasions it was getting funny. Catches just falling short, etc. they were all there.
But yeah then it came down to 2 to win and McDermott got a rough decision by Darrel Hair caught behind where he turned his back on a bumper and the ball apparently just clipped his gloves on the way through. On viewing the replay many times, it's hard to tell which makes me question the rationale Hair had for giving it. Still, the reality is that the WI had a bunch of LBW shouts against May and McDermott turned down in that last hour, a couple of which looked stone dead. The WI probably deserved to win that match a little more. Still, the greatest Test I've ever seen.
And then there's Perth and one word comes immediately to mind; Ambrose. He took 7-25 in the first dig but all 7 came from his second spell of 7-1 which was just un-freakin' believeable. Quick, nasty and accurate, a tough combination to counter. To this day I don't know how he got the ball to Mark Waugh to bounce so much. It was painful to watch this innings. The WI batted pretty well in their innings (despite Joe Angel decking Dessie) then Bishop blew the Aussies away in their second dig.
So yeah, what lost the Aussies the series was an inability to take opportunities presented to them and that the WI, after a slow start, lifted their game by tightening it up and getting cheesed-off.