Lara: Easy England win...if

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua: West Indies captain Brian Lara acknowledged Friday that if his batsmen did not turn around their poor form, England would likely create history by becoming the first team to sweep the home side in the Caribbean. “A lot of our problems have been with the bat and if that continues, I think it is going to be an easy win for England,” Lara said. England enters the fourth and final Cable & Wireless Test with a 3-0 lead following comprehensive victories — by 10 wickets  in Jamaica, seven in Trinidad and eight in Barbados a week ago.

The West Indies has been bowled out for totals of 311, 47,  208, 209, 224 and 94 and the home team has only produced six individual scores of 50 or more. “It’s baffling to me to really say that this was  predictable or something like this would have happened,” the  skipper said. “One of the things that the West Indies have done  well in the last year is batted. Despite the grim situation, Lara said his teammates were  keen to lead a turnaround in fortunes. “We’ve been working very diligently on getting all the batters right,” Lara stressed. “We have to go out there and be counted this time around. We have put the right foot forward in terms of our preparation for this match.”

The West Indies has made one change from the side that lost in Barbados. Ricardo Powell, the hard-hitting right-hander, comes in for only his second test match to replace a “tired and lethargic” Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who has been dropped. Powell played his only test on the tour of New Zealand in  1999-2000. A year ago at the same venue, the West Indies faced a similar clean sweep at the hands of Australia but emerged with a record-breaking win. But Lara acknowledged his team was playing better cricket  then despite being down 0-3 heading into the final match. “In this scenario, I think it is a total turnaround that we have to make to get a win against England,” he said. “I’m not downbeat.

I’m just facing reality. Playing against England, we never thought we’d be in this position come Antigua. We are faced with that reality and we have to climb out of it.” Lara said he recognised his key role as captain but called on the rest of the batsmen to weigh in as well. “For someone to be looked on all the time as the one to lead, and the one to score the necessary runs to create a victory is not an ideal situation,” Lara said. “In the last four Test series we’ve played in, I’ve scored the most runs and I don’t think its ideal for West Indies cricket ...You would hope that  when you do make a wrong step, someone is able to fill the gap. That is what’s been missing.”

West Indies team: Brian Lara (capt), Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-capt), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Ricardo Powell, Ryan Hinds, Ridley Jacob, Tino Best, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards.