/ Editor / 23 February 2007 /

West Indies cricket has been enjoying something of a resurgence over the last three years since their exciting win in the 2004 Champions Trophy final against England, and they go into the World Cup on their home turf as a real contender for the title.

Brian Lara's side managed to go very close to defending their Champions Trophy crown last autumn in India, in what was widely regarded as a warm-up for this competition, and now back on home territory, they will seek to go one better.

Although their Test results have not shown too much of an improvement since the start of the millennium, it is the one-day game that has sparked the revival in the sport in the Caribbean. With the new infrastructure in place and new stadiums in Barbados and Antigua, there is a chance for the development to kick on further if they can progress a long way in the tournament and feed their fans, hungry for home success.

So what of their current squad? Well, as ever, most of their hopes will rest on Lara, back as skipper of the side for the third time and hoping to end his career in style by capturing the title for the first time since 1979.

Despite their position as number seven in the ICC world one-day rankings, Lara and Chris Gayle should give them the platform to keep most teams they face honest, but whether they will be able to defend smaller totals is another question altogether with so many question marks in their attack.

Betfair punters though do rate them as third-favourites at 9.8, in a market that is very congested after 3.4 favourites Australia and South Africa at 5.8.

Although Lara is their undoubted star, Gayle is often the player to make or break their innings' with his dashing style at the top of the order. He is closing in on 6,000 one-day international runs at an average of nearly 40, but it is the amount of big scores he makes that gives him such importance.

He has 15 centuries from an opening berth and also provides excellent depth to the West Indies bowling line-up, Gayle's under-rated off-spin bowling has allowed him to amass 134 wickets and made him one of the better all-rounders in the game.

Gayle should have every chance to add to his runs total in Group D, where they face Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Holland in their first-stage matches before hopefully progressing to the Super Six, where literally anything could happen as they face the other six teams to qualify - the result against whichever team they qualify with will be carried forward.

He is also among the favourites to be top run-scorer over the whole tournament, at 16.5, and it is no real surprise to see him at a shorter price than Lara, who is available at 21 - favourite in that market is Australia captain Ricky Ponting.

Although Lara's ODI average - 40.54 - is better than Gayle's, his more recent form is not as strong and getting on towards 38 years old, the Trinidadian hero could find the pressure too much for him as he looks to form an incredible end to a legendary career.

The worry for the West Indies is, that apart from these two and the dependable Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the rest of their batting line-up has yet to show the consistency needed to succeed at the very highest level - and that is what is likely to be required in March and April.

India proved not to be a happy hunting ground for them on their most recent tour, but previous form in the sub-continent has not come easy for the Caribbean side and they seem confident enough that they will bounce back quickly.

Their only win from that series (3-1 defeat) came courtesy of a fine innings of 98 from Marlon Samuels, a player whose World Cup selection was brought into question by a scandal during the tour that had him linked with an illegal bookmaker. But his form was better than any of his team-mates, and he will be needed to provide support from the fourth or fifth spot in the order.

Devon Smith, Dwayne Bravo and Ramnaresh Sarwan will provide the batting depth for the squad, although the latter should be more prominent if he can recover from the multitude of injuries that have plagued him in recent months. Meanwhile, Kieran Pollard is the wildcard in the squad as a 19-year-old who has yet to make an international debut but has impressed in domestic one-day action, where he averages just under 50 for Trinidad.

Sarwan's average last year stumbled badly in the wake of the decision to overlook him for the captaincy, and he missed all of the ODI series with Pakistan and India with a foot injury. But it is the hand injury suffered earlier in February in domestic cricket that could even put his place in the side under threat - sad for a player with an overall one-day average of 44.

Wicket-keeper Dinesh Ramdin is a solid option for lower order runs, but it looks important for them to score big totals, because their attack does not have a history of being able to restrict opponents. Youngster Lendl Simmons could provide some back-up as well as being able to bat and bowl - a true all-rounder in all senses, but one with only six ODI caps in his pocket.

But they no longer boast the pace bowling options that the likes of Curtly Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh used to provide them with, and the decision to exclude the wayward but pacey and passionate Fidel Edwards came as a surprise.

That is likely to see them relying on Jermain Taylor and Corey Collymore as their opening bowlers, but Taylor has only 28 games of experience at international level and Collymore has managed just one wicket per game in his 77 matches, and they have come at a cost of 34.49 runs.

So that is going to leave a lot of pressure on left-arm seamer Ian Bradshaw - the hero with the bat against England in the 2004 Champions Trophy final - to repeat the wickets he took in the home series with India this time last year, when he grabbed nine wickets at an average of only 17.

Gayle will also be counted on for 10 overs a game, and although he looks less than impressive in running up to the crease to bowl, he does tweak the ball plenty and gets turn out of pitches that some specialist spinners fail to shine on.

The remaining overs will most likely go to all-rounder Bravo, although Samuels has also turned his arm over to good effect with 53 wickets in his 83 matches - his best chances to impress with the ball will come on turning pitches where Gayle has success. His 2/30 against India in Kingston last year was his most impressive effort.

But is that enough to secure overall victory for the hosts? Well, it gives them a decent chance but punters appear to have them in about the right place, with the wide-open look of the market behind Australia, who find themselves in the midst of a slump and an injury crisis at just the wrong time.

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