On Turning The Corner....

As West Indian cricket fans in the Caribbean and around the world bask in the warm afterglow of yesterday's triumph at Sabina, it seems that everyone is talking about 'The Corner' and how it has finally been turned with the decisive victory over the Sri Lankans.

Certainly, there are signs of life at hand but it is so hard to dismiss that niggling feeling of doubt that lurks in the flickering shadows. How many times have we seen a new hand on the tiller steer us into glory at home only for the ship of West Indies cricket to founder and be dashed upon the treacherous shoals of overseas tours?

But wait a little - maybe things are a little different this time.

Tony Cozier once described Brian Lara as 'the prodigal son turned messiah' after Lara almost singlehandedly delivered two back to back upset victories over the visiting Australians on their last tour to the West Indies. It is this same Brian Lara, a little older and perhaps a lot wiser, who is now reborn as captain and mentor to a young team full of promise, lacking experience, and desperately needing a father figure.

Only it seems that this time Lara can afford to fail now and again, and his greatest contribution may not be with the bat but as a leader of boys who will be men.

Several times recently we have seen Lara get dismissed cheaply and the batting still managing to post good scores, especially in the limited overs arena. In the absence of Chanderpaul young Sarwan has stepped up to inject some solidity. Wavell Hinds, miscast as an opener in my opinion, has demonstrated his class and his ability to take on quality spinners. And happily, the tail enders seem to be grasping the idea that they need to make a contribution with the bat as well as the ball.

The past eight months have seen an unprecedented nine debutants take their maroon caps as the selectors worked to rebuild an aging and ineffectual side.

In Carlton Baugh Junior it seems that Ridley Jacobs' successor has finally been found, and not a moment too soon. Jacobs has looked increasingly tired both behind and in front of the stumps and needs to quickly bring his successor up in the world of international cricket.

The Achilles Heel of West Indies cricket, the alleged bowling attack, has had a much needed facelift and while it has become very green, there is now some of the same promise the batting showed 12 months ago.

Jermaine Lawson stunned the Australians and attracted the wrath of the bowling action police with a hostile seven wicket haul. Ordinary bowlers just do not take seven Australian wickets at this level and Lawson is a key card. Once his fitness and action are sorted out there will be a reason to start producing fast wickets in the region again.

In modern Test cricket a good offspinner is a potent weapon against powerful batting lineups. Omari Banks had a creditable if not spectacular first class season but when he debuted in Barbados he bowled with good line and length, and was not afraid to flight the ball unlike the current crop of flat trajectory Caribbean spinners. Critics will point at his lack of wickets but if only a few of the many chances that went down off in Barbados him had been held there might have been a far better result in that match. To add to that, he proceeded to show in Antigua that he knows how to hold a bat as well.

Like Banks, Jerome Taylor has had a difficulty snaring a lot of wickets in his early matches. Also like Banks, the scorecards do not show how well he bowled against experienced batsmen with indifferent help from the fielders. Clearly Taylor's talent is a raw one but clearly it is there.

I will not dwell on Fidel Edwards remarkable zero to hero story but I sincerely hope that the young man does not find himself too soon on the wrong end of Caribbean fans' fickleness. The important thing is that it is now possible to see where the next generation of quality bowlers might be coming from, something that was nearly impossible this time last year.

There are still fragility problems at the top order with the seemingly entrenched Gayle and his bevy of opening partners in Hinds, Smith, and Ganga. Too often the scoreboard shows the West Indies at not enough for two and it is left to the middle order to repair the damage. Likewise, we have only just begun to see some teeth in the bowling attack, which at times has seemed like men going through the motions. But with the problems identified, they can be rectified. In my opinion, once the opening pair solidifies and the bowling matures the West Indies will again find itself a competitive unit in world cricket.

And so we come full circle in this chronicle to Lara. Always a force with which to be reckoned when batting he has come back to the captaincy with perhaps a little to prove. Tactically Lara the captain has been erratic in the past, if not bizarre, but in his new life he has shown more orthodox, perhaps Waugh- inspired tactics, and a very Sobers-like willingness to attack, something his two predecessors were loathe to do. Once seemingly disinterested, this Lara is always involved with anything going on in the middle and he is unfraid and not reluctant to stand up for himself or his players. This demeanor seems to be rubbing off as seen in the attitude of his vice captain in the face of hostility in the middle. A little fire in the belly is a good thing in this arena.

Once again Brian Lara has realised his dream of being West Indies captain. This time he is ready for it, and it will temper him and reward him as it could never have done before. The baggage of Richie Richardson and two world records is behind him, and the future of West Indies cricket now lies before him. It is possible that we have already seen the best of Lara's batting, but we have yet to see the best of Brian Lara.