Tony Becca
THE WEST Indies versus Australia Test series seems destined to be a one-sided contest with many predicting a three-nil defeat, a whitewash for the visitors.
Listening to the coach, manager and captain, however, and also the players who are now in Australia and working around the clock in an effort to fine tune their game, with a little luck that will not be so.
According to them, the West Indies possess some of the finest batsmen in the business, they have fast bowlers who can make life difficult for Australia's batsmen on their own pitches, they have some brilliant fielders, and despite the problems of recent times, the team spirit is wonderful - probably better than it has ever been since the days of Clive Lloyd and his all-conquering team.
While there is no doubt that they do have some talented batsmen, some genuinely fast bowlers and some brilliant fielders, for the West Indies to win or draw the series, for them to even put up a fight against one of the greatest teams of all time, a lot will depend on the form of one man - and that man is Brian Lara.
Although cricket is a team game and it will be difficult for one man to win a match much more a series, one man, by his deeds, can inspire an entire team, and such is Lara's greatness as a batsman, his ability to rise to the occasion, to score heavily and to demoralise the opposition, that if he gets going, he could be so effective that he could motivate his colleagues to performances beyond the ordinary.
Right now, for example, Australia, as good as they are, may well be having a few sleepless nights planning how to get rid of Lara - and for one good reason: his record, his quality performances against them.
LEFT-HANDED GENIUS
Apart from his record of 10,859 runs and 30 centuries in 118 Test matches at an average of 53.75 against all comers, the left-handed genius has scored 2,470 runs and eight centuries at an average of 51.45 in 27 Test matches against Australia.
Those runs, those centuries, include some of the greatest innings in the history of the game.
At Sydney in 1992/93, Lara, for example, went to bat at 31 for two, chasing 606, and when he was dismissed, run-out at 481 for five, he had stroked 38 boundaries while scoring 277.
At Sabina Park in 1999 with the West Indies trailing one-nil, Lara went to bat at five for two after Australia had scored 256, and when he was dismissed at 378 for five, he had stroked 29 fours and smashed three sixes in leading the West Indies to a 10-wicket victory.
At Kensington Oval one Test later, Lara went to bat in the second innings at 78 for three chasing 310 for victory. At one stage the scoreboard read 248 for eight, and with Curtley Ambrose and then Courtney Walsh as his comrades at arms, he led the West Indies to a one-wicket victory with 153 not out.
At the ARG in the last Test match of that four-match series, Lara, going to bat at 20 for two in the 15th over and leaving the scene at 136 for three in the 39th over, blasted 15 fours and three sixes while scoring100 runs off 84 deliveries.
In Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee, Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill, Lara will be up against some quality bowlers.
It should be remembered, however, that Warne, who has dismissed Lara only four times, was among the Aussie bowlers at Sydney, at Sabina and at Kensington; that MacGill was among the bowlers at Sabina, at Kensington and at the ARG - just as he was, like Lee, at Bourda and Queen's Park Oval in 2003 when Lara scored 110 and 122.
It should also be remembered that although he has dismissed Lara 13 times, McGrath was among the bowlers at Sabina Park, at Kensington and at the ARG - just as he was at Adelaide in 2000 when, with only one other batsman reaching 40, Lara scored 182 out of the West Indies' 391.
At 36, Lara's best days may well be behind him. The contest, however, is a short one, Lara is only 316 runs away from being Test cricket's highest scorer and such is his appetite for records that he is certain to give it his best shot.
Remembering that one man cannot win the series, however, Lara has another important role to play in Australia.
As the senior member of the team, the West Indies are hoping that, apart from scoring runs he will also play his part in making the team as united as it was in Sri Lanka.
