For a start he is 28 now and happily married and with that has come maturity via the sharpened focus that settling a family

For a start, he is 28 now and happily married and with that has come maturity, via the sharpened focus that settling a family can naturally generate.To his immense credit he has managed to put aside the frustrating urgency that overwhelmed him when he was trying to regain his Test batting spot and has emerged a better-equipped player mentally. Any dropping is a test of a cricketer's character, but Bevan's had a "PS" attached.Orthodoxy has long dictated that the way back for an Australian Test reject is to try ever harder to score the elusive big runs in the Sheffield Shield, the long game, to jog the selectors' memories.But Bevan was confronted by the unorthodox - dropped, then told he had been consigned to "one-day player only" status. To a young cricketer who craved perfection it must have been a hammer blow.A few summers on from his Test demise, the recent official declaration that Bevan is rated the world's best one-day batsman might have softened the blow, but not by much. We all remember Dean Jones once burned that bright, and Bevan knows that yesterday the best was Tendulkar. One-day wonders come and go as fast as the matches themselves. Deep down Bevan would prefer Test recognition.There are three defining aspects to Bevan's one-day game: there is his strike-rate (77 runs per 100 balls), which is high for a batsman coming in so late in the order; there is his running speed; and there are the partnerships.In either form of cricket partnerships, batting or bowling, can turn matches. Bevan figures in the five highest Australian one-day partnerships for the fifth wicket:l 172 v West Indies, 1998-99 (Australia won)l 159 v Sri Lanka, 1995-96 (Lost)l 157 v Pakistan, 1998-99 (Won)l 138 v West Indies, 1995-96 (Won)l 124 v S Africa, 1996-97 (Lost)Australia's captain, Steve Waugh, has been criticised for conservatism because he prefers to leave the new No 1 at No 6, but why risk weakening what is clearly one of the team's great strengths?Bevan is remarkably cool: almost cold-blooded in the way he sees the tail through, ensuring the team bat their allotted overs and, at the same time, maintaining the run rate.By now the Australian tail are comfortable with his habits, alert to the wristiness that enables him to thread the gaps, and awake to his pressure running that panics fielders and can turn a one into two.Normally, as the end of an innings nears, a strike rate as high as Bevan's would sit most comfortably next to the name of a tail-end slogger, few of whom have been known for their consistency; but Bevan is consistent and he is a fair dinkum batsman - that is a lethal combination for his opponents.Just as dangerous is his desire, backed by the talent, to finish in "red ink", the cricketer's term for not out.

Bevan manages that once in every three visits to the crease, thus dramatically improving his side's chances of survival.Bevan has a clear mind about his one-day role: "It can definitely be one of the challenges to come in with 10 or 20 overs to go, but at the end of the day the reason you play cricket is to bat for as long as you possibly can and enjoy batting the way you want to bat - not under pressure."Cramping Bevan's style will be a priority for Australia's opponents, but to keep things in perspective it is worth remembering that before they can get Bevan under pressure they have got to deal with Gilchrist, Mark Waugh, Ponting, Lehmann and Steve Waugh, although recent results have been a little thin.If the World Cup were a casino, it would be fair to say the selectors had put the lot on No 6: they quarantined Bevan from Test cricket and anointed him the player most likely to help win the World Cup for Australia.If he comes up trumps he will be entitled to wonder why he isn't a good thing for a spot in a Test batting line-up that stumbled against the hardly- rated West Indies.. VERDICT: Everything and anything is possible now for West Indies. Three months ago they were a shambles, lacking direction and purpose. Dismantled in South Africa (5-0 in the Tests, 6-1 in the one-dayers) they were then humiliated in the first match of the home rubber against Australia.

Their cause was hopeless, Caribbean cricket, it was said, was done for And then came Brian Lara. With two of the greatest innings of all and a team who responded to his example they drew the rubber 2-2. The recent one-day series, marred by crowd riots finished at 3-3 and West Indies might easily have won. They might struggle for sufficient runs and they are a long way from being what they once were - but they are a team again. EMERGING HERO: Ridley Jacobs must have been the best-kept secret in the Caribbean for a decade.

Since Jeff Dujon retired West Indies wicketkeepers have come and gone but Jacobs was ignored. At 31, he was at last picked for the ill-fated South African tour and took to it immediately. Jacobs is a stupendous catcher and otherwise admirably unfussy. His batting reflects this and he has solved a long-term problem. ACHILLES' HEEL: The prospect that Lara, whose wrist is obviously causing him discomfort, may not be fully fit because the injury has not been fully rested. Without him they could easily crumble.HISTORIC POINT: Lord's, 21 June 1975, the first World Cup final, West Indies v Australia. On a long, hot day West Indies, with a century from captain Clive Lloyd and an impeccable fielding performance, won by 17 runs.