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| March 29, 2003 | Saturday | Muharram 25, 1424 |
‘West Indies are returning to top’
SYDNEY, March 28: Australia Test captain Steve Waugh believes the West Indies, led by the brilliant batting of Brian Lara, are on the way to becoming a force again in world cricket.
Waugh, who has played a world record 156 test matches, will lead the 15-man squad who fly out of Sydney on Monday for the four-test tour of the Caribbean.
Australia are fresh from a 4-1 Ashes series victory over England and a successful World Cup title defence and are keen to reclaim their ranking as the top test side from South Africa.
“They (West Indies) are one of the few sides in world cricket which are on the up,” Waugh said in an interview with the Australian Associated Press on Friday.
“They went through a tough phase for a few years there. They’ve rebounded fairly well and they seem to be more together.
“(Chairman of selectors) Viv Richards seems to have quite a bit of say in West Indies cricket, which is good for them, and world cricket needs them to come back.”
Australia last toured the Caribbean four years ago, Waugh leading the visitors to a 2-2 draw in his first series as captain following the retirement of Mark Taylor.
Lara blasted 546 runs at an average of 91 including a highest score of 213 among his three centuries in the series.
The 33-year-old left-hander holds the world records for the highest individual score in test (375) and first-class (501) cricket.
“He was phenomenal last time we were there and, knowing him, he will want to play well against the best side in the world, so he’ll definitely fire up,” Waugh said.
“They have some very good young players — (Ramnaresh) Sarwan, (Marlon) Samuels, (Chris) Gayle, (Wavell) Hinds, then you’ve got (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul, Lara, (Carl) Hooper and (Ridley) Jacobs there, so it’s an excellent batting side.
“This (Jermaine) Lawson looks like a good bowling prospect and then you’ve got Merv Dillon and we’ve come across a few other blokes.
“They’re going to be a lot tougher than people give them credit for and we certainly won’t be underestimating them.”—Reuters
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