ICC Cricket Worldcup-Lara backs Flintoff for lead role

West Indies captain Brian Lara believes England's Andrew Flintoff will be a major factor at the World Cup.

Flintoff has three ODI centuries and 122 wickets and led his team to victory over Australia in the CB Series.

Windies legend Viv Richards played down England's chances, but Lara told Wisden Cricketer Magazine: "Flintoff brings everything to the party.

"On his day there are not many who can match up. He is the best all-rounder in the world at the moment."

Lara admitted the weight of expectation from the fervent West Indian crowd may prove to be a double-edged sword.

"Playing at home should help and we have guys on the verge of becoming world-class players, like [Jerome] Taylor, [Dwayne] Bravo and [Marlon] Samuels.

Teams will score in excess of 250 - grounds have fast outfields and they are not the biggest

Brian Lara

"A lot is expected of the experienced players - [Shiv] Chanderpaul, [Chris] Gayle, [Ramnaresh] Sarwan and myself - but we have to create more match-winners.

"In another sense it could be a disadvantage to be playing at home - do we have the strength of character to cope with the pressure?"

Although some way short of the standards of their halcyon days, the West Indies surprised many by winning the Champions Trophy in 2004 and reached the final again late last year, only to be eclipsed by Australia at the final hurdle.

"We beat South Africa in the semi-final, that is to our advantage and we have experienced one-day finals recently," Lara commented.

"Each major team has the game to do it - it is down to consistency and controlling your nerves."

Lara added that early concerns about the state of some newly renovated pitches were likely to prove unfounded.

"I think teams will score in excess of 250: the grounds have fast outfields and they are not the biggest.

"Australia are based in St Kitts and there could be records falling there. The wickets will be good."

Flintoff seeks big england total!

Andrew Flintoff and Paul Collingwood hold the key for England as they look to reach a big first innings total in the fifth Ashes Test in Sydney.

They ended day one on 234-4, with Flintoff 42 not out and Collingwood 25.

"To see off that last hour of play and the way they did it was really important for us.

"But tomorrow is a huge battle for us to get through the first session and the second new ball," team-mate Ian Bell told BBC Sport.

England cannot afford to waste the opportunity as they trail 4-0 in the series and Australia are eager to achieve what would be only the second whitewash in Ashes history as they prepare to say goodbye to Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer.

Bell said it was difficult to know what a par total was on a pitch offering help to the seam bowlers, but England would be looking for at least 350.

"We certainly don't want to lose 5-0 but for us, as a young England side, we've got to put this behind us now.

"But it's important from this Test match and every day we play here in Australia that we're building for the next Ashes series," said Bell.

"This is the toughest place you can play cricket. We've learnt certain things - and learnt the hard way - but I've enjoyed every minute out here and I'm looking forward to coming back here again in the future."

From Australia's point of view, they will look to get rid of Flintoff on day two before he has time to settle at the crease. After a disappointing series with only one half century in the first four games, Flintoff looked more like his old self in hitting a six and five fours.

Australia coach John Buchanan said: "We beat the bat quite a bit and when we had them two down early on there might have been some ghosts floating around in the dressing room - but I think they responded well.

"234-4 off 80 overs puts them in a reasonable position, providing they can capitalise on it. We're looking for a couple of early wickets so we can really restrict that total."

Buchanan praised seam bowler Stuart Clark who again looked impressive in sending down 19 overs for figures of 1-54.

"Since he came into the Test side his performances have been simply outstanding.

"Basically it's the old cliché, he gets the ball in the right areas a lot of times and if you can do that you make batsman struggle no matter how good they are. That's what he has done and that's what he continues to do," he said.