Alex Carey and Beau Webster rescue Australia on day one in Grenada

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada (AP) — Alex Carey and Beau Webster rescued Australia from a worse fate than 286 against the West Indies on day one of their second test on Thursday.

A four-pace attack cut Australia down to 110-5 soon after lunch but Carey immediately lashed back. He and Webster combined for 112 runs in 25 overs for the sixth wicket. They both scored half-centuries.

After Australia was all out in the 67th over, the players went out to start the West Indies innings but stumps were called for bad light.

Australia, up 1-0 in the three-test series, chose to bat first — pleasing the West Indies — then lost three men in three consecutive overs.

Usman Khawaja was first, lbw trying to block an Alzarri Joseph in-swinger on 16. Fellow opener Sam Konstas went next on 25, driving at Anderson Phillip and nicking behind. Phillip replaced frontline spinner Jomel Warrican for his first test in three years.

Steve Smith came in after missing the three-day win in Barbados due to an injured finger that passed his pain test in a baseball batting cage in New York. But Australia's class batter was out for 3, top-edging Alzarri Joseph to fine leg.

In the last over before lunch, Cameron Green was dropped by John Campbell off Jayden Seales but Green's let-off was brief. To the last ball of the same over, Green edged a ball shaping away straight to gully and the hands of captain Roston Chase.

Australia took lunch at 93-4 and was 110-5 soon after when Shamar Joseph hit Travis Head on his bat handle and wicketkeeper Shai Hope got one glove underneath for the catch.

Webster, on 5, was joined by Carey, who charged at Phillip, Seales and Justin Greaves for boundaries and swept Seales for another.

Carey was dropped on 46 by a leaping Hope off Phillip and added insult to injury by edging Phillip between Hope and a wide slip for a boundary to bring up his 13th 50-plus test score.

Meanwhile, Webster was helping to subdue the chaos and helping Australia score 99 runs in the afternoon for the loss of only Head.

Carey didn't last long after tea, out for 63 to a catch by Kraigg Brathwaite on the occasion of his 100th test, off medium-pacer Greaves.

Webster brought up his 50 off 87 balls, his fourth 50 in his sixth test and third in three tests. But captain Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc couldn't stay with him.

Following a 35-minute delay for a heavy shower, Webster ran himself out attempting a second run and couldn't beat Keacy Carty's accurate throw from deep point. Webster's 60 came from 115 balls, six boundaries and a six.

Nathan Lyon was the last man out, giving Alzarri Joseph 4-61 from 15.5 overs.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

West Indies' Shamar Joseph celebrates taking the wicket of Australia's Travis Head during day one of the second cricket Test match at National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Australia's Beau Webster plays a shot against West Indies during day one of the second cricket Test match at National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Australia's Alex Carey plays a shot from a delivery of West Indies' Anderson Phillip during day one of the second cricket Test match at National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

West Indies' Alzarri Joseph bowls against West Indies during day one of the second cricket Test match at National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

Australia's Alex Carey celebrates with partner Beau Webster scoring a half-century against West Indies during day one of the second cricket Test match at National Cricket Stadium in St. George's, Grenada, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)