KANDY, Sri Lanka (Reuters)
West Indies head for the second Test against Sri Lanka with the familiar charge of being little more than a one-man team - Brian Lara plus supporting cast - again ringing in their ears.

The touring side's 10-wicket defeat in Galle - their first in only four Test meetings with the Sri Lankans - came despite Lara's first-innings score of 178. Even worse, the left-hander was barely match fit, after almost being left at home because of a long-term hamstring problem.

The team's reliance on Lara, a cause for concern for years, has resurfaced as West Indies prepare for the second Test in Kandy starting on Wednesday. In Galle, Lara had also top-scored in the second innings but only managed 40 as West Indies were dismissed for 144.

The Caribbean news agency CANA quoted Trinidadian sports journalist Andre Baptiste at the weekend saying: "It seems yet again that everyone including the West Indies batsmen were awaiting another Brian Lara miracle and it never came. This we have said happens too often and something must be done otherwise we will continue to go nowhere very fast."

There were, however, at least some encouraging pointers in the first Test, with the new generation of batsmen suggesting there could be better things to come, as Ramnaresh Sarwan managed scores of 88 and 30 and Daren Ganga got 47 and 33.

Both looked increasingly comfortable against Muttiah Muralitharan's offspin, the chief Sri Lankan weapon in Galle. Muralitharan, however, ended the first Test with 11 wickets for 169, prompting West Indies captain Carl Hooper to suggest there was little his side could have done against him.

"He's got a straighter ball, a flighted ball and a flat ball...I don't think you can plan for someone like Muralitharan," he said.

If West Indies are disgruntled with their over-reliance on Lara - something which has increased since the departure of veteran pacemen Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose - then the batsman himself has been equally frustrated by the situation in recent years as the team's decline has gathered pace.

As enigmatic as he is proud, Lara stood down as West Indies captain last year after the team slipped from disaster - a 5-0 Test and 6-1 one-day drubbing in South Africa in 1998-99 - to disaster.

The "one-man team" tag was never more appropriate than in the home Test series against Australia in 1999, when Lara somehow contrived a 2-2 series draw - scoring 213, 153 and 100 in consecutive Tests - after the home team had lost the first Test by a massive 312 runs.

The Test and one-day whitewash in New Zealand in 1999-2000, however, was the final straw, prompting his departure and a sabbatical from the game as he contemplated his future.

Lara, as much as anyone, will hope for a rapid change for the better in Kandy.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have named leg-spinner Upul Chandana in their 15-man squad for the game. Chandana, who played the last of his five Tests over a year ago against South Africa, will compete with left-arm spinner Niroshan Bandaratillake for a place alongside Muralitharan.

Squads:
Sri Lanka Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), Marvan Atapattu, Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), Mahela Jayawardene, Russel Arnold, Hashan Tillekeratne, Thilan Samaraweera, Chaminda Vaas, Niroshan Bandaratillake, Muttiah Muralithathan, Charitha Buddika Fernando, Nuwan Zoysa, Suresh Perera, Michael Vandort, Upul Chandana.

West Indies Carl Hooper (capt), Ridley Jacobs (wkt), Chris Gayle, Daren Ganga, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Leon Garrick, Neil McGarrell, Dinanath Ramnarine, Colin Stuart, Mervyn Dillon, Marlon Black, Reon King, Pedro Collins.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd