© Getty Images

Buy this photo

Brian Lara (02/05/69)
It is a cruel irony for Lara that, as one of the best players in West Indies' rich history, his career has coincided with what some have depicted as a terminal decline in the status of cricket in the Caribbean. Surely within sight of retirement now, Lara will be hugely determined to leave a legacy in the Windies' own World Cup. His batting talent remains appropriately intact to help his team leave their mark.

Ramnaresh Sarwan (23/06/80)
Sarwan was trumpeted by many as a major player from the moment he made his debut seven years ago - and he has largely made good on his potential by establishing himself in the upper echelons of world cricket. A languid right-hander, Sarwan complements Lara in many ways - and the Windies captain will need his right-hand man on song this spring.

Ian Bradshaw (09/07/74)
Left-arm seamer Bradshaw is far removed from the epitome of the traditional West Indies pace bowler. He will strike fear into very few batsmen, but that has not stopped him getting plenty of them out at one-day international level. Bradshaw is particularly adept too at stopping them scoring, making up for his lack of pace and aggression with a nagging accuracy and ability to swing the ball back into the right-hander. He is a diligent tailend batsman too, as he demonstrated to England's detriment when the Windies won the ICC Champions Trophy from an impossible position at a gloomy Oval in September 2004.

© Getty Images

Buy this photo

Dwayne Bravo (07/10/83)
All-rounder Bravo is a cricketer who can make things happen with bat and ball. A genuine partnership breaker and the Eldine Baptiste of the current West Indies generation, he had a spell at Kent last year - when his batting prowess served his employers considerably better than his bowling.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul (16/08/4)
The adaptable Chanderpaul is West Indies' mainstay alongside Lara. A latter-day Larry Gomes, the little left-hander finds the angles in one-day cricket and has a useful strike rate as well as an average just short of 40. Chanderpaul's method will not please the purists - but wherever he comes in, he is the glue in the Windies' batting order.

Corey Collymore (21/12/77)
Along with Bradshaw, Collymore represents the steady half of West Indies' pace attack. He has an admirable Test and one-day record and can be expected to give little away with his well-directed seam and swing.

© Getty Images

Buy this photo

Chris Gayle (21/09/79)
Gayle can come across as a complicated character - but his attitude to batting is pretty simple. See it, hit it sums up his intentions - and he very often manages to do just that. The tall left-hander is capable of taking any attack apart at the top of the order, although he has learned to occasionally temper his ambition. His dart-like off-breaks can stifle the run flow in the middle overs and make him close on a genuine all-rounder at one-day international level.

Kieron Pollard (12/05/87)
Pollard hit his first ball in first-class cricket for six - on the way to a 71-ball hundred which contained six maximums on debut for Trinidad and Tobago. He has added another hundred since - again with six sixes along the way - in only eight first-class innings so far. Pace-bowling all-rounder Pollard first made a name for himself last August with a whirlwind 83 in the Stanford 20/20. A surprise pick in the Windies’ final 15 nonetheless, Pollard will be vying for a middle-order spot alongside the likes of equally attack-minded Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo.

Daren Powell (15/04/78)
Powell has developed into a pacy back-up seamer but has yet to record the Test or ODI figures of a frontline contributor.

Denesh Ramdin (13/03/85)
Ramdin is being touted as a long-term occupant behind and in front of the stumps for West Indies. His wicket-keeping appears accomplished at a young age, and he has potential as a middle-order batsman.

© Getty Images

Marlon Samuels (05/01/81)
Jamaican Samuels has impressed many with his pedigree batting technique but has already had his share of scrapes and clashes with authority, as well as serious injury. There is little doubt Samuels has the required talent - but he needs to get his head down in pursuit of a significant international career.

Lendl Simmons (25/01/85)
Twenty-two-year-old Simmons is being given the chance to prove himself a top-order international batsman. The slight right-hander began his ODI career with a duck, opening the batting against Pakistan late last year - and now looks most likely to figure in the middle order.

Devon Smith (21/10/81)
Left-hander Smith is a smaller version of Gayle at the top of the Windies order. He has yet to reach the Jamaican's heights in runs as well as inches and has had his best days so far in Test rather than limited-overs cricket.

Dwayne Smith (12/04/83)
Smith made his name with an exhilarating hundred on his Test debut against South Africa. His aggressive batting - and handy medium-pace - looks tailor-made for one-day cricket, yet he has a conspicuously low batting average in that form of cricket. It may be he is simply too belligerent for his own good and gives the bowlers too many chances, but Smith is still young enough to work out a winning method.

Jerome Taylor (22/06/84)
Fast-tracked like many before him as the West Indies have sought to revive past glories in recent years, fast bowler Taylor has already served notice - by the age of 22 - that he may just be the genuine article. India had the misfortune to run into him last summer, and West Indies have realistic hope that Taylor could be a formidable spearhead for a new generation of Caribbean quicks.