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One of cricket's most respected judges believes the West Indies' youngest and newest player could emerge as one of the stars of the 1999 World Cup.

Ricardo Powell, the 20-year-old Jamaican whose hurricane 53 off 22 balls was the major talking point in the West Indies' final warm-up match against Surrey on Wednesday, has been given a huge vote of confidence by his coach, Malcolm Marshall.

Marshall acknowledges his assessment of Powell might be a little biased.

The only time he had seen the aggressive right-hander before his inclusion in the squad as Carl Hooper's last-minute replacement was when he scored his brilliant hundred against Barbados in the Busta Cup semifinal in February.

``That was pretty good and how he played at the Oval on Wednesday confirmed for me that he could well be one of the stars of the tournament, if not overall, at least for us,'' he said.

In a display of brute force and power-hitting, Powell lashed three sixes and three fours with strokes like a towering six that was still rising as it cleared long-off.

``This wasn't slogging, that was perfect cricket shots and intelligent batting,'' the admiring coach said.

``It's really satisfying when someone that young shows that maturity. And he is brilliant in the field and bowls a bit too.''

On the momentum of Powell's runs, the West Indies rattled up 100 off their final ten overs and went to comfortably win the rain-affected match against Surrey by 88 runs after the complicated Duckworth/Lewis system came into play.

Chairman of selectors, Mike Findlay, also expressed satisfaction about Powell's success in the pre-tournament build-up in which he also scored a quick-fire 32 off 27 balls against Warwickshire on Monday.

``I am delighted that so far from what I have heard, Powell has matched up quite well,'' he said on the West Indies Cricket Board's Cricket Line programme on CANA Radio Wednesday night.

``Of course we are not sure of the strength of the opposition that he has come up against in those two matches, and clearly in the World Cup itself the competition is going to be much more intense.

``But at least playing at that level, his first tour to England, to have scored so well in the first two matches he has played, is an extremely promising thing,'' Findlay said.

On the strength of his two innings, Powell should now be close to selection for a place in the West Indies' final XI in their opening match against Pakistan on Sunday.