West Indian great Brian Lara has identified Alick Athanaze and Tagenarine Chanderpaul as the cricketers critical to his nation’s hopes of springing a massive Test surprise in Australia over the next fortnight.
Athanaze, 25, demonstrated promise in the red ball game when debuting against India last year, while Chanderpaul performed extremely well when last touring Australia in 2022.
Lara, who made 34 Test centuries, is realistic about the West Indies hopes of delivering a major upset in the two Test series against an Australian team coming off a 3-0 triumph over Pakistan.
The West Indies have named seven uncapped players in their 15-man squad for the series beginning in Adelaide on Wednesday, but Lara hopes the team shows significant fight and at least stretches the hosts.
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Speaking to Fox Cricket’s podcast The Follow On, the 54-year-old said much rested on the shoulders of the young hopefuls Chanderpaul and Athanaze in the West Indian batting order.
But both will need to step up after a difficult start to the tour in a drawn match against a Cricket Australia XI in Adelaide which finished on Friday.
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Athanaze averaged 37 in the series against India midway through 2023 but struggled in the warm-up game when scoring a duck and nine.
Chanderpaul, who is averaging 40 during his eight Test career, made 17 and a duck in the same game.
But the 27-year-old debuted with distinction against Australia in Perth in 2022 when scoring a half-century and then made an unbeaten double-century against Zimbabwe in the following series.
“Alick Athenaze is somebody who I believe that, you know, is going to come and show (talent),” Lara said.
“I think he has the ability to perform in any conditions against any sort of attack, so I’m looking forward to seeing him come up against the tough Australians.
“Tagenarine Chanderpaul came across here 14 months ago and pretty much impressed everyone. He (has) sort of leveled off a bit, but I still feel that he has the right approach to be a success.
“He loves challenges and I’m looking forward to seeing if he can … raise his game and show some sort of improvement from … his performances 14 months ago.
“So those are the two guys that I have been looking for and hoping that they can truly come forward and sort of be firm structures in our batting lineup.”
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Lara, who made his maiden Test century in Australia when scoring 277 at the SCG in 1993, believes the West Indies still produces players with a comparable level of talent to the days when the Caribbean islands were blessed with world-beating superstars.
But harnessing that potential and ensuring that players are capable of reaching the level of professionalism required to excel at Test level is the challenge.
“In terms of the state of West Indian cricket, I will always maintain that, talent-wise, we do produce talent. We churn out the talent,” he told Fox Cricket’s The Follow On.
“I believe getting that talent ready for international cricket, say 30 to 40 years ago, it was much easier than then now. The technology that we see in the game (makes it) easy … for (the) opposition to have information on players.
“So you need to be a step ahead all the time and I feel that we a little bit slow in that aspect of getting our players mature enough and ready enough.”
Lara, who will be providing his expert analysis for Fox Cricket during the series, said he wanted to see the West Indians show significant fight during the series.
“What’s going to happen in the two Test matches is going to be tough,” he said.
“But like how I felt 14 months ago when we took Australia to the fifth day in Perth, it is the same I feel now. If we can take Australia to five days in Test cricket, you never know what can happen. You … can actually be on the front foot.
“But even if it turns out to being a defeat, it is still some sort of promise for the West Indies. I don’t want to see us come here and in three days, you know, the game is over. I want to see our players fight.
“I think that … the management knows and maybe the even the West Indian public know it’s going to be difficult to beat Australia, the way they’re playing cricket. But if we can show some fight, I believe that I personally would be very, very proud.”
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