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After crushing Scotland, Brian Lara's smile broadened as he singled out not only his seemingly ageless pace bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh for special praise but also one other crucial team member, namely wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs.

``The veteran fast bowlers and Ridley especially have done well for us,'' said a beaming Lara. ``We just have to keep it up. The toughest times might still be ahead.'' While the bowlers are supposedly expected to rule because of the bowler-friendly white ball being used, Jacobs has made his mark, in his quiet but effective way, both as batsman and wicketkeeper. The figures speak for themselves.

Jacobs has played in all four of the West Indies' games in the World Cup so far and he is set to make it five in today's all-important showdown with Australia at Old Trafford before hopefully moving on to the Super Six stage.

His value to the side cannot be in doubt for not only does he have the highest individual score made by a West Indian so far in tournament, an 80 not out that won him the man-of-the-match award against New Zealand, but he also has a total of 156 runs from only three innings. That includes two fifties and is far and away the highest aggregate for the West Indies team. The next best is Shivnarine Chanderpaul with 118 in four innings while Lara is thirdwith 97 from four innings. Add the fact that Jacobs has now taken 13 catches and one can easily appreciate his tremendous input to the team. The five catches he took against New Zealand actually equalled a world record for the most dismissals in a one-day international innings.

Jacobs, though, is unassuming about his achievements to date. ``I know my role as a wicketkeeper. Simply, I must give confidence to my bowlers. I am not too worried about where I bat. I am a team man and would do whatever the captain, manager and coach tell me to help the team. Opening the batting is no real problem. I have great belief in myself and God. I can only do my best. So far, it has worked out OK.''

It is ironic that Jacobs actually made that majestic 80 against New Zealander last week for it was against the same country that he made his one-day debut in 1995-6 in Kingston, Jamaica. He did not feature much with the bat then, even though he did so regularly for the Leeward Islands. However, he was already a competent wicketkeeper.

I take pride in being one of the first to suggest that he should have had a regular Test place back then. But his way was blocked by the underlying insularity which bedevils West Indies cricket.I will never forget the abuse most of my relatives received from fans in the popular Concrete Stand in Trinidad & Tobago because I openly stated that Jacobs should be playing for the West Indies instead of David Williams, the then wicketkeeping incumbent. Williams, of course, comes from Trinidad & Tobago.

The other wicketkeeping sub-lieutenants then were Courtney Browne, of Barbados, and Junior Murray, of Grenada and the Windward Islands. It is satisfying now to have the last laugh and see Jacobs' self-belief pay off.

The fact that he is already 31 years old is not significant. As long as he remains sufficiently fit for the tortuous requirements of 'keeping and opening the batting, age will not be a problem. Jacobs was born in the same village - Sweetes in Antigua - as Curtly Ambrose but he did not actually make his Test debut until that ill-fated tour to South Africa last year. But he performed so impressively that he was named Man of the Series, scoring 317 runs in the five Tests, averaging 45. His patience and composure temporarily kept the rampaging Alan Donald and Co at bay. It was a pity that the rest of the team could not take Jacobs' cue.

Consistency is his biggest asset. His overall batting average in his nine Test matches to date, 32.85 from an aggregate of 460 runs, compares well with his returns in 27 one-day internationals - 443 runs at an average of 26.05.

In some quarters, Jacobs is being mentioned in the same breath with Jeffrey Dujon, the best West Indian wicketkeeper-batsman ever. But such comparisons cannot be made seriously as yet.

Dujon managed 169 one-day appearnces, hitting 1,945 runs at an average of 23.15 to go with 183 catches and 21 stumpings. With only 34 catches and six stumpings to date, Jacobs has a long way to go. But it will be one less worry on Lara's mind against Australia, knowing that the wicketkeeper-batsman role is back in safe hands.