Most fragile Windies batting since the 1930s, say ratings

Without Brian Lara, the West Indies batting line-up could be the most fragile to have faced up to England since the 1930s, according to analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Ratings assess the form of international cricketers. They have been backdated to 1877.

According to the latest PwC ratings, the West Indies currently have only one Test batsman in the world top twenty, and that is Brian Lara. The next highest batsman is Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who is 21st. Captain Jimmy Adams is 32nd, having suffered injury and only modest form since he last toured England in 1995.

Roger White, marketing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a spokesman on theRatings, commented: "In the past the West Indies have usually had three or four of the world's top batsmen in their squad, with players like Greenidge, Richards, Sobers, the three Ws and George Headley. You have to go back to the early 1930s to find a West Indies side with no batsmen in the top 20 of the ratings."

Brian Lara is currently top of the PwC Ratings for Test cricket, thanks largely to his sensational series against Australia in 1999, but he has slumped to 18th in the Ratings for one day cricket.

The West Indies bowling is a different matter. Ambrose and Walsh are both still in the top ten, and newcomer Reon King is climbing the ratings rapidly.