Australia captain Ricky Ponting says West Indies‘ preparations have not helped their cause in the lead up to the opening match of the Test series Down Under.

The tourists’ captain Chris Gayle had to make an emergency trip back to Jamaica to be with his sick mother while key batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan is a major doubt for the opening Test at the Gabba.

Sarwan (3/1 in Totesport’s 1st Test – Top West Indies Batsman odds) suffered a back injury during a fielding drill on Wednesday, and a decision will be made on his fitness shortly before the coin toss.

“To have their captain going halfway round the world in the past couple of days and one of their better batsmen going down, it’s obviously not a great start for them,” Ponting said.

“All we can do is prepare for both of those guys to play, we’ve talked about those guys’ importance to their team, so we’ll just wait and see what they come out with.”

Australia are expected to make home advantage count as 1/10 favourites in series outright betting, with Gayle’s men on offer at 14/1 and the draw at 13/2 with Totesport.

Gayle has admitted that losing Sarwan for the first Test would be a huge blow, but remains hopeful the former skipper will be available.

“It’s not good news, but we’re going to keep our fingers crossed and hopefully tomorrow he’ll be fit,” Gayle (7/2 to be the top West Indies batsman in the first innings) said.

“He got some runs in the last game so he’s in good nick. To lose him at this point in time, it’s a crucial point in time, but if that’s the case then someone will have to step up and make a giant contribution.”

The three-match Test series gets underway on Thursday in Brisbane with the Aussies strong favourites at 1/5 with to draw first blood, with the Windies available at 10/1 and the draw at 9/2.