The Hindu : Lara's plea to stop Australian run machine

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 24, 2003

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Sport - Cricket

Lara's plea to stop Australian run machine

Port of Spain May 23. Skipper Brian Lara has urged his top-order batsmen to apply themselves in the first 15 overs and give the West Indies the chance of stopping the Australian juggernaut in the Caribbean one-day cricket series.

The World Cup champion extended its unbeaten one-day international sequence to 20 games with a 25-run win over the West Indies in St. Lucia on Wednesday and will wrap up the seven-match series with victory in either of this weekend's matches in Trinidad.

The West Indies has lost its last 10 ODIs against Australia, but Lara knows what needs to be done if his team is not to play second-fiddle again to Ricky Ponting's high-rolling squad.

``In two of the three matches we lost the match in the first 15 overs when we were batting losing that amount of wickets, so us batters up front need to apply ourselves a lot better,'' Lara said today.

``We should not be losing wickets during that period.''

Lara, master batsman that he is, has also to shoulder the blame with poor scores in the opening three matches of 23, 5 and 4.

``Of course, they've dominated at least two of the three matches so far and we have to find a way to turn things around,'' he said. ``We've got four matches ahead of us.''

Australia's strong bowling attack has dominated the West Indies, even after it stacked its team with nine batsmen in the last match, yet still went under.

Ponting said his team's winning sequence would inevitably end, but hopefully not this weekend in Trinidad as the Australians attempt to wrap up the series.

``We're playing well, if we stick to the basics and keep doing them well we know we are going to be competitive in most games, so that's what we are focusing on,'' he said.

With complacency increasingly becoming a threat to the all-conquering Australians, team coach John Buchanan has warned his players not to even contemplate a clean sweep of the seven-game series.

``Obviously, we realise it's possible but as soon as you start thinking about it, we'll come away from Trinidad 3-2,'' Buchanan said on Thursday.

Youngster Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds are likely to play in both matches in Trinidad after starring roles in Australia's victory on Wednesday.

They each scored 75, and with senior batsman Darren Lehmann still troubled by a calf muscle injury and opener Matthew Hayden likely to be rested, there's a chance for 22-year-old Clarke to bat on this weekend.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist and fast bowler Brett Lee are expected to return after they were rested in St. Lucia.

The teams (from):

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Wavell Hinds, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara (captain), Ricardo Powell, Carlton Baugh, Ridley Jacobs, Omari Banks, Vasbert Drakes, Mervyn Dillon, Corey Collymore, David Bernard, Ryan Hurley.

Australia: Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting (captain), Jimmy Maher, Michael Clarke, Andrew Symonds, Michael Bevan, Brad Hogg, Ian Harvey, Andrew Bichel, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Hauritz.

AFP

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