The word to the West Indies team came from Sir Garfield Sobers, a former West Indies captain, and it went like this: Watch out for South Africa; don't under-estimate the side during the upcoming series there.

On the other hand, the West Indies can beat Australia, even if Shane Warne is in the side.

Sir Garry, who was in New York City recently to encourage Australian, West Indian and other cricket lovers to be in the Caribbean next year for the series between the West Indies and Australia, warned the West Indies against taking South Africa for granted following that country's recent defeat by England.

``I think we are going to be struggling to beat South Africa unless we find some players and we really buckle down and play as a team because I really don't think we are playing as a team,'' he said in New York. ``South Africa is not an easy team to beat.''

Although South Africa had few ``outstanding stars,'' the fact was that they play as a team, Sir Garry told a special meeting of the New York Carib News' Editorial Board in Manhattan.

Against the Springboks, Sir Garry, who led the West Indies for several years in the 1960s and 1970s, said the tourists ``couldn't afford to give their wickets away like they have been doing so consistently''.

He said the West Indies would be making a serious mistake if they decided that because they beat England earlier this year and that South Africa was defeated on its recent tour of England, then they have nothing to worry about.

As for the Australian tour of the Caribbean in 1999, he said with or without Warne, he thinks the West Indies can beat the visitors.

As he sees it, a critical thing for the West Indies is their ability to find people who can bowl out the Australians.

``To win matches you got to bowl people out,'' he declared.

Sir Garry described the Australians as being strong in batting but concluded that their bowling wasn't dominating. And with question marks being placed over Warne's fitness then the prospects for the West Indies would be even brighter.

``If Shane Warne doesn't come, although as I said before I don't think he is any big threat, I feel the West Indies has got a good chance against Australia at home,'' he said. ``Australia is a team that has tremendous potential in their batting line-up. I don't think their bowling is as strong because they depend too much on Shane Warne.''

Sir Garry contends that some West Indies batsmen, especially Brian Lara and Carl Hooper, can handle Warne's bowling, so he did not seem to be too concerned about the possibility that the Australians would run through the home team.

Indeed, he insists that Warne's figures against the West Indies could be misleading and prove his point about the spinner.

Interestingly enough, the former West Indies captain believes spin, not pace, may hold the key to a West Indies victory.

He said that if handled properly, the leg spinner, Dinanath Ramnarine, could make a difference between victory and defeat for the West Indies.

Sir Garry told about a dozen West Indians gathered around a conference table in the corporate headquarters of Schieffelin & Somerset on Park Avenue that Ramnarine was ``the best find'' for the West Indies in recent years.

``I like him a lot,'' he said. ``I think he is very attacking. He is very aggressive as a spin bowler and you can see him all the time attacking the batsman. His attitude is right and I think that if he is given the opportunity, he can be a match winner for us on many occasions.''

Sir Garry complained that the West Indies had relied on pace bowling for too long, thus neglecting the spinners.

``We have depended so much on fast bowlers over the years that we have allowed our spin bowlers to die out,'' he added. ``We do not treat them properly. I think this boy (Ramnarine) has good potential, good attitude and he turns the ball both ways and he is a pretty accurate bowler. If handled in the right way he can be our match winner.''