BRIAN LARA has listed another serious problem to add to the several others that continue to hinder the West Indies in the NatWest Series.
The captain indicated following the loss to New Zealand in their latest match in Cardiff on Friday that the batting order had to be adjusted to accommodate players who were unhappy with their assigned positions.
He referred specifically to Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was shifted from opener to No.5, and Dwayne Smith, who went from No.3 to No.7.
There were others, he said, who did not follow the prescribed game plan.
"I'm not going to let you into what happened in our team meetings on stuff like that but we have Dwayne Smith, who was uncomfortable batting No. 3, and Chanderpaul is doing it (opening) because the team requires it," he told the media conference.
It was, he added, a situation on the day where "most of the guys batted where they wanted."
In the circumstances, Lara himself opened the batting for the first time since the series against Pakistan in Sharjah early in 2000.
His run-a-ball 58, with a six and nine fours, got the West Indies off to a flying start, adding 83 with Chris Gayle, before the last seven wickets tumbled for 36 to be all out for 216.
He described opening as "about the easiest place to bat in one-day cricket".
"I don't understand why people don't like doing it," he said. "It's a situation where you have 50 overs, you have only two guys outside the circle, you have time to bat normally."
"If you are a Test match batsman, you should appreciate the opportunity to do that," he observed, an apparent reference to Chanderpaul whose opening partnerships in 20 one-day internationals with Gayle have averaged just over 50.
Lara conceded that the ball "does a bit" in England but added: "If you believe in yourself and back yourself, you can fight out those periods and have a bang later on."
He said that it was everyone's job to fit into the game plan.
"That is to try to get a solid start, first in 15 overs not to lose any wickets, and, if any, just one, to use the middle overs to pick up singles and, at the end, to go for it", he explained.
"Nearly every team has that same plan. It really and truly doesn't matter who the individuals are performing it but if you are a member of this team, you should be able to get the game plan going," he said. "Unfortunately, we didn't do it in the last 15 overs."
Chanderpaul has seemed out of sorts since the home series against England earlier in the year when the selectors left him out of the fourth Test, citing what they described as fatique.
In the four NatWest matches so far, he has struggled to cope at the top of the order in the testing conditions while his body language in the field, often with hands in pockets, has not been that of a cricketer on top of his game.
He is a senior member of a youthful team desperate for strong leadership. Only Lara has played more than his 154 one-day internationals and scored more than his 4,473 runs.
With two decisive matches remaining in the tournament, against England at Lord's tomorrow and New Zealand in Southampton on Thursday, to be followed by the four Tests, it is essential that the 29-year-old left-hander's enthusiasm and form are quickly rekindled, no matter where he bats.
So it is for Smith whose all-round talents can provide a much needed spark to the effort.
The decision to place such a youthful, inexperienced and exuberant strokeplayer at No.3 on pitches that have suited swing and seam bowling has proved misguided.
In his three dismissals in the position, for 1, 6 and 2, he was caught off the outside edge each time. They are failures that are part of his learning experience but they are bound to have a psychological effect.
He will be happier on truer, drier pitches, as are likely at Lord's and the Rosebowl in Southampton, but only if he reverts to the position where he has been successful in his brief international career.
New Zealand's victory over England at Bristol yesterday (TAKE agency reports) sent them into Saturday's final at Lord's, leaving the West Indies to battle it out with England for the other place.
Victory for the West Indies in England's last match tomorrow would settle the matter.
But they won't do it if everyone isn't pulling in the same direction - and that didn't seem to be the case in Cardiff on Friday.