Asked at yesterday’s press briefing, held at the Savannah Suite, Le Meridien Hotel, whether any of his bowlers will target the world record-holder in the absence of ace speedster Glenn McGrath, Waugh said “we’re not going to focus too much on Brian anyway despite having other quality bowlers in McGrath’s absence.

According to Waugh, “Brett Lee is bowling as well as anyone in the world right now and Andy Bichel has had a great World Cu and there are plenty of other options. I’m not over-worried that McGrath will not be bowling at Brian Lara, someone else will get him out.”

The Australian captain said Lara is still a good player “and we have to give him full attention when we are bowling to him, we can’t take anything for granted; he’s a match-winner but at the same time we are not going to focus on him as they are other good batsmen in the side.”

Commenting on Lara’s re-appointment as captain of the West Indies team, Waugh said he was surprised. “I must admit, I was surprised although he did a pretty good job the last time Australia toured the West Indies in 1999.

“He’s a smart captain, he’s got good ideas on cricket and knows what he’s doing, and he’s got the experience. So probably when you look at it closely, it’s not a huge surprise but I thought Carl Hoper was doing a fair job, so he’d be disappointed.”

Waugh described new vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan as a good player who has improved a lot over the past 12 months. “He’s obviously taken on a more senior role as vice-captain and is seen as a future captain, He’s a talented player when you watch him. He’s got a great one-day record although his Test match record isn’t quite as good, but he’s on the verge of becoming a good Test match player; he’s got our respect.”

Vice-captain Ricky Ponting feels the West Indies attack, as well as the whole side, has improved over the last few years, pointing out that fast bowler Merv Dillon has come on a lot while Vasbert Drakes did a great job in the World Cup.