If England's bowlers are put to the sword by Brian Lara in the next few months they may have cause to curse Matthew Hayden and the fellow who, in the middle of one night last October, called the West Indies captain at his Port-of-Spain mansion with the news that his world-record Test score of 375 made against England a decade ago had just been surpassed by the Australian, with 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth.
"Three o'clock in the morning," said Lara yesterday. "But after the call I lay in bed thinking that Hayden's achievement could give me impetus to leave an impact on the game other than just that of a couple of innings. That innings had a great positive impact on me and could for the people of the Caribbean."
"Oh dear," Michael Vaughan must have thought as he heard Lara speaking. "That's all we need: Lara with motivation over and above the norm."
Less than a year ago, before Vaughan took on the England captaincy, his extraordinary batting had elevated him to No1 in the world rankings. Now it is Lara who tops the heap. No one in the world, not even Ricky Ponting, who has been in the form of his life, has scored more Test runs in the past 12 months than the 1,585 runs that have flowed from Lara's bat. He believes that at the age of 34, with maturity and a deal of common sense, he is playing better than at any stage in his celebrated career.
In 22 Tests Lara has fed voraciously on English bowling. No West Indian apart from the great George Headley, the black Bradman, whose name adorns the stand at the southern end of Sabina Park, averages more against England than he - overall or only at home. No country apart from Sri Lanka sees more runs per innings from him than England.
Lara admits to getting a buzz from playing England that he gets from no other opposition, although perhaps that is because of the anticipated goodies in store.
"I made my first tour to England and got the feeling of competition. To us England is the No1 foe. They have done a lot in the past for us in terms of the development of our game - a father figure almost. But losing the Wisden Trophy last time in England was a bitter blow for myself and others, especially Jimmy Adams, the captain, and Curtly and Courtney. We all felt the disappointment and are determined to get it back."
Vaughan is sensible enough to recognise that even if the world's leading batsman, one of the finest ever, poses the main threat, there are other dangerous players in the West Indies line-up, and that, though the home side tend to travel poorly, once they get in to their own environment - what Lara calls the "comfort zone" - they are a different proposition.
"They are used to batting in the conditions here," said the England captain. "It will be a hugely demanding Test for our attack, new to the Caribbean with its excitable crowds. They will have to get used to it quickly."
The Lara that England will encounter in this series is a more relaxed individual than the highly strung , often petulant self-centred performer they have seen in the past.
"I have matured in lots of areas that are necessary for sportsmen to be at their best. I am mentally stronger, and better technically. Less of a flash in the pan, you could say." So were there those who thought his record, set in Antigua, was a one-off? "People thought it then," he said. "But this has been a tremendous year for me personally.
"Part of that is not feeling the same kind of pressure to perform, the burden of that, that there once was perhaps five or six years ago. It has eased off as others such as Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have come through. Now in what will be my last series against England in the Caribbean, I am determined to leave a legacy."
· West Indies are expected to use an all-pace attack in Thursday's opening Test against England after omitting the 24-year-old left-arm chinaman bowler Dave Mohammed from their 13-man squad announced yesterday, despite his satisfactory Test debut in South Africa recently. Their only spin option is now the left-armer Ryan Hinds, who averages over 40 in domestic first-class cricket.
West Indies (from): Lara (capt), Gayle, Smith, Smith, Chanderpaul, Hinds, Sarwan, Jacobs (wkt), Powell, Sanford, Best, Collymore, Edwards.