Hopes for a stronger contest

The last time Australia played the West Indies in a test series they had Brian Lara, who farewelled a country that considered him a genius with 226 in Adelaide.

Now, for the first time since 2005, the Windies face off with Australia for the Frank Worrell Trophy, generally revered almost as much as the Ashes in terms of cricket trophies. With no Lara, however, this contest could turn out even worse than three years ago.

The Windies have sunken from the prestige they used to carry in world cricket alarmingly and depressingly. Where once players like Lara, Ambrose and Walsh stormed through teams, they have not been replaced by players of the same quality.

This time round, the team is led by Ramnaresh Sarwan, a gifted but enigmatic player at test level, and the only batsman generally regarded as a major threat is Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose record against the Aussies does not stand up to close scrutiny.

Admittedly, this is one of the best times now to face Australia. There is no longer any McGrath or Warne, and Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist cannot flay their weakened attack around.

They still have strong candidates replacing them, with Brad Haddin, a wicketkeeper with a first class average of over 40 replacing him, and Phil Jaques has revealed himself to be a top test opener already after scoring heavily against India and Sri Lanka.

Australia’s bowling attack is no longer as powerful as it used to be, but Lee has emerged as one of the top quicks in world cricket, backed well by Stuart Clark and the raw but quick Johnson. MacGill, once his rhythm comes back, will plague the Windies batsmen, most of whom struggled with Warne.

I cannot predict anything but a whitewash of these tests, but I hope that players of the quality of Bravo, Ramdin, Sammy and Sarwan get a chance to shine and show the Australian side they are not intimidated by them.