Lara's innings a tour turning point, says Dujon
West Indies assistant coach Jeffrey Dujon believes Brian Lara's brilliant 231 against Australia is a turning point for the beleaguered tourists' star batsman.
With the potentially-decisive third Test starting in Adelaide on Friday, Dujon believes with Lara back in form, the confidence of the entire team has picked up.
If he's right, then the rebirth of Lara is the best source of motivation to arise from the match against Australia A which drifted to an inevitable draw in Hobart on Tuesday.
Lara came into the match with Test scores of 0, 4, 0 and 17, a hamstring injury that wouldn't go away and the West Indies management not even sure if he would be able to play in Adelaide.
Now he goes into the third Test with the dodgy hamstring plus a shoulder muscle strain picked up during his big innings, but also with, according to Dujon, a different attitude.
"You could see his confidence coming back after the first night (when he was 62 not out) and you could almost predict what would happen next day," Dujon said.
Dujon hinted that Lara's problems were partly in the mind.
"The better you start to feel mentally, the less your mind focuses on negative things," he said.
"With the level of confidence he now has, mentally he'll be more prepared to cope with his injuries.
"I'm not worried about him. It will be the first time he's really looking forward to going out there."
Dujon said Lara's return to form, plus the century by in-form wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, has given the team new heart.
"The fielding today, the body language and the better line and length bowling showed there was a confidence lift," he said. "It augurs well for Adelaide."
Coach Roger Harper made a similar point. The 365-run sixth wicket stand by Lara and Jacobs, which started with the West Indies reeling at 80 for five, showed the rest of the team that it was possible to turn things round from any position.
"The other guys are definitely inspired," Harper said.
But doubts remain about the rest of the West Indies top order.
Apart from Wavell Hinds' streaky 40, they all failed in Hobart but the long West Indian injury list is starting to shorten.
Veteran bowler Courtney Walsh, a late withdrawal from this match with a sore back, will be okay for Adelaide, Harper said.
Fellow bowlers Nixon McLean and Mervyn Dillon should also be fit, though spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo and out-of-form batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan probably won't be.
This means 19-year-old replacement Marlon Samuels, who bowled a lot of tidy though unthreatening off spin but failed with the bat in his first match in Australia, will almost certainly be thrown into the Test cauldron.
The Australia A match was always going to end in a draw after the West Indies piled on 492 Monday for a first innings lead of 53 and Australian captain Damien Martyn determined to use the final day for batting practice.
During an irrelevant day, which ended an hour early, opener Jamie Cox atoned for his first innings failure with a patient 94 and fellow opener Jimmy Maher followed up his first innings 150 with an entertaining 46.
Martyn, who is taking Steve Waugh's batting place in the third Test team, had more than two and a half hours batting practice, remaining unbeaten on 58, as Australia A finished on 210 for three.
Mail Cricket Editor
