‘Bravo has a bright future’

West Indies skipper Brian Lara believes that there is a bright future ahead in Test cricket for countryman Dwayne Bravo who made his Test debut against England recently. Lara was speaking to reporters shortly after receiving his diplomatic passport from acting prime minister Joan Yuille-Williams yesterday at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain. Lara said: “I am very proud of Bravo who as you know is from Cantaro. He performed very well in England and showed great maturity. In also a capacity to learn from each and every single match I think the future is in front of him.” “Of course he has to understand things are going to get tougher the more the opposition get to know him, he will have to lift his game to another level but I expect him to do that.” Bravo scored 250 runs and took 16 wickets in the 4-0 loss to England.

Lara was also high in praise for Jamaican wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh: “I was quite impressed with his batting in Manchester and at the Oval. His glove work needs some improvement but I am sure this will come along. We have also got Courtney Browne a very experienced campaigner  who have scored a lot of runs in our regional cricket. “I don’t know when Ridley is calling it a day but I think we have some people who can do the job when he is about to go.” Looking towards the ICC trophy, Lara remarked: “I think our performance in England in the triangular series and the Natwest Trophy were commendable, we did not go on to win the finals against new Zealand but I think that in this tournament (ICC trophy) we have a very realistic chance of getting far in the series.

“South Africa are one of the main opponents in our group, they are struggling right now in Sri Lanka and we are looking forward to the encounter first against Bangladesh.” The West Indies meet Bangladesh and South Africa in their preliminary group matches and the winner will proceed to the semi-finals. “Preparation for the series is important and we are all looking forward to the camp at Bermuda which gets underway on Sunday.” Lara also welcomes the inclusion of fast bowler Mervyn Dillon: “Dillon’s return will lift the  standard of the bowling. The last one day we played Ravi Rampaul was the most capped one day bowler he was only 19-years-old, so that was not the right situation to be in. It is nice to have Corey Collymore and Dillon back in the line up to join Ian Bradshaw who has been doing pretty well.”