KINGSTON, Jamaica, 17 May 2003 — The West Indies are looking for the momentum of their euphoric Antigua Test victory over Australia to carry over into their seven-match one-day international series, starting here today.

The cricket world was buzzing as Brian Lara’s young team created Test history with the highest fourth innings of 418 for seven last Tuesday to floor the Australians, who were shooting for an unprecedented 4-0 Caribbean series whitewash.

It was a heroic performance that may finally have instilled the self-belief that has been missing in West Indies cricket since the heyday of Viv Richards and their deadly four-man pace attack of the 1980s. “We have now set a standard and we kept the standard up and we made the greatest run chase in the history of the game and that’s what we are going to take forward,” Lara said in the wake of the three-wicket victory at St John’s.

Now Lara’s team face another mountain with Ricky Ponting’s World Cup champions putting on the line their 17-match unbeaten run, stretching back to last January.

Australia beat all-comers at the World Cup in southern Africa last February/March culminating in their 125-run demolition of India in the final at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg on March 23.

But the Windies may be catching Australia at the right time as Ponting’s men are on the tailend of an exhausting 10-month playing schedule, with many, particularly among the Test team, having their thoughts on home over the closing weeks of their Caribbean tour.

Ponting is recovering from a virus which forced him out of the final Test and there are concerns over the flagging fast bowlers, particularly the injury-prone Jason Gillespie, Australia’s best bowler in the Test series. Ponting believes there is no reason his team can’t continue their winning streak. “We’ve got the four of five players that have come into the squad (after the Tests) and that should be able to help us out,” Ponting said yesterday.

“It’s up to those guys to get the other guys up. There is no doubt they are going to be a little bit tired, at the same time we are not going to have any of those excuses floating around the team. It’s up to everyone to lift themselves up for these games. It’s a big series for us. After playing as well as we did through the World Cup, we’ve set some standards for ourselves and we have to make sure we keep playing at those high standards.”

Australia want to play their strongest team in the opening matches at Sabina Park today and tomorrow to ensure a winning start, and dictate to Lara’s team from the outset.

Ponting is still not back to full-strength after a sapping virus which prevented him from adding to his outstanding performances in the opening three Tests, yet it was still enough for him to be voted man of the series. “It’s going to take me a bit of time to get back to feeling 100 percent again but I feel OK,” Ponting said. The West Indies beat India 4-3 on the subscontinent last November/December to underline their one-day potential, but their progress at the World Cup was hampered by rain.

Paceman Jermaine Lawson is in doubt for the Jamaican double-header with a back strain, but team officials say he will play during the series despite being reported last week for a suspected illegal bowling action.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul, man of the match in the Antigua Test with his fighting century, will miss the ODI series because of a broken finger on his left hand and Carlton Baugh replaces wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs, who needs to fully recover from injuries.

Chanderpaul fractured the middle finger on his left-hand when taking a catch to dismiss Adam Gilchrist during Australia’s first innings at Antigua. “After an assessment by Dr. Akshai Mansingh, a member of the West Indies Cricket Board’s medical panel, it was confirmed that Shiv had indeed fractured the tip of the middle finger on his left hand,” said team manager Ricky Skerritt.

“The fracture was complex and required urgent surgery. The best medical opinion indicates that Shiv will be out of cricket for at least six weeks.”

Skerritt said that Chanderpaul’s absence will be a big blow for the Windies ahead of the seven-match one-day series. “Shiv batted courageously to withstand the pain and discomfort throughout his match-winning hundred in the second innings of the final Test,” Skerritt said.

Stewart’s Place Hinges

On Flintoff Fitness

Injured England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, meanwhile, holds the key to whether or not veteran Alec Stewart retains his place in the team for next week’s first Test against Zimbabwe.

Some pundits have been suggesting that Stewart, 40, should be dropped in favor of a younger player such as Nottinghamshire’s Chris Read or Essex keeper James Foster.

Stewart himself has called time on his one-day international career but still wants to carry on in Test cricket and neither of his rivals for the gloves can match the Surrey stalwart’s batting record. That would be less of a problem for the selectors if the batting balance of the side was not disturbed by the absence of Flintoff, a lively pace bowler and hard-hitting middle order bat.

Flintoff missed the latest round of county championship matches with a suspected compressed nerve in his right arm and was due to have a scan yesterday.

And Dr. Peter Gregory, the chief medical officer of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said yesterday: “At this stage there is a slim chance that Andrew will be available for the first Test. We will have a clearer idea once we have had an opportunity to assess the results of the tests he underwent earlier today.”

Meanwhile, the most likely replacements for Flintoff, all-rounders Craig White and Paul Collingwood, are already out of Thursday’s Test at Lord’s. That makes it all the more likely that Stewart, England’s most-capped player in Tests (126) and one-day internationals (170), will be retained.

And England captain Nasser Hussain said he hoped ageism played no part in selection policy, rejecting suggestions that now was the time to blood younger players against a Zimbabwe team already written off by many observers.

“You might say this is a chance to rebuild, but I don’t see that,” Hussain said. “I don’t think we can say ‘you’re a certain age now, I don’t care how you’re playing, you’re out’. Other players will have to knock at the door hard before the likes of Alec Stewart are thrown out.”

England are due to announce their squad for the opening match of a two Test series today. Chairman of selectors David Graveney said: “One of our jobs as selectors every summer is to establish the policy we want to adopt. It is a balancing act between winning today and planning for tomorrow and this summer will be no different.”