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THE focus of attention in the Caribbean has switched to domestic cricket - during the break between the second Test against Australia and the third, which starts here in Barbados on Friday - in the hope that some sign of salvation for the region's international future can be found.

In Antigua, West Indies A, composed largely of Jamaican players, faced the tourists, while in Barbados the home country played Trinidad and Tobago in the final of the first-class competition.

After the precipitous decline in the cricketing fortunes of this region - which reigned supreme in the world for two decades - are we witnessing the death of the Caribbean game?

There is still enough enthusiasm for the sport to ensure its hold on a section of the population, but there are no giants - physical or metaphorical - waiting in the wings to carry the West Indies back to the top.

To look around Kensington Oval, scene of the coming Test, is to realise what an astonishing legacy Caribbean cricket has left. The various stands carry the names of Barbadians who would pass muster in anyone's list of the greatest.

There is George Challenor, who played in all three Tests in the West Indies' first series, against A P F Chapman's England side in 1928. Next to him is the Sir Garfield Sobers stand, and on his right the Hall and Griffith enclosure. One of the newer sections bears the names of the three Ws - Weekes, Worrell and Walcott - and to their left comes the Greenidge and Haynes stand.

In the shadow of such a pedigree, what do today's West Indians have to offer? Mediocrity would be an unnecessarily damning judgment, but there are no ``greats'' to follow Brian Lara when he steps down - nor anyone of the calibre to replace Courtney Walsh or Curtly Ambrose, both now in their late thirties.

There are no longer any big men (6ft 6in and above) to fill the boots of the fast bowlers, and it may not be coincidence that Ambrose was always torn between cricket and basketball.

As elsewhere in the region, North American conglomerates are now the major employers. Cricket means little to them, but they are ready to let a young worker have time off to develop his basketball skills. One Canadian entrepreneur is even advocating the introduction of ice hockey.

The mighty US dollar is one factor which has helped blight the expansion of cricket here. Another is the prevalence of sports teachers in schools who have gained their diplomas ``up North'', from colleges where basketball and gridiron are dominant, and have no technical skills - or liking - for the area's traditional sport.

Then there is the problem of Caribbean pitches, which are over-used and over-prepared. The result is that today the slow bowlers have taken over the pivotal role from the pace men, and only belatedly have the West Indies selectors cottoned on to this.

Left-arm spinner Winston Reid has been central to Barbados's success this season with close on 50 wickets in seven games at around only 17 a piece. He is 36, made his debut 13 years ago and has taken more than 200 first-class wickets, yet has never been considered for international selection.

Trinidad have a promising off-spinner in Mukesh Persad, 28, who has taken 25 wickets in his six games at under 20 each. There is Nehemiah Perry, 30, of Jamaica, whose six wickets on his Test debut last week hastened Australia's downfall, and we all know about Carl Hooper.

Of the uncapped quick bowlers, Corey Collymore, with 25 wickets for Barbados in his first season, is probably the deadliest and certain to achieve Test status soon. But his colleague Henderson Bryan, at 29, is only now earning international recognition as an attacking all-rounder after many seasons in the game.

It is hard to spot a batsman likely to assume Lara's mantle. Barbados left-hander Adrian Griffith, 27, who opened in Adelaide two years ago, has the potential - with an average of nearly 40 - to come back as does Trinidad's Lincoln Roberts, 24, who was unnecessarily sacrificed after his debut in last week's second Test.

These players will continue to carry the Caribbean cricketing torch. The game is not dead here - but an epoch certainly is.