By Martin Gough

Some believed he would never make it, but Brian Lara has finally returned to the top of Test cricket as its highest-rated batsman.

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers ratings are often fickle, Matthew Hayden's battle with Michael Vaughan showing the importance of recent games.

But Lara's return to the top of the pile comes after a purple patch of form bettered only by his sparkling run in 1994, when he followed a Test record 375 against England with a new first-class mark of 501 not out.

This winter an inexperienced Windies side struggled to match Steve Waugh's all-conquering Australians, but Lara, back as captain after replacing Carl Hooper, still starred.

I had to push and shove myself to get to the front of this young, talented side Lara in February

The regal left-hander followed centuries in the first two Tests of the series with a pair of half-centuries in the Caribbean side's consolation fourth Test victory in St John's.

The toughest of rivals have often brought out the best in the Trinidadian.

His highest rating under the PwC system came after a heroic sequence of 213, eight, 153 not out and 100 tied the home series with Australia four years ago.

But since then he has struggled on and off the pitch to regain the level of excellence expected by his admirers.

Perhaps his lowest ebb came early in 2000, when he was replaced as captain by Jimmy Adams and took a sabbatical from international cricket, with reports claiming he was seeing a New York psychiatrist.

A run of sub-par form in the following year - including a tour of England when he failed to score a century - saw him drop out of the top 10.

A slight change to his backlift, reported to be a tip from Sir Garfield Sobers, brought instant returns in Sri Lanka two years ago.

But scores of 221 and 130 in the third Test in Colombo still brought a 10-wicket loss as his series total of 688 runs was a record 42% of the team's aggregate.

Lara credits his revival to increased competition in the side

An on-field collision during the one-day series saw him dislocate an elbow, and as he struggled to recover form a mystery illness knocked him out for the rest of the year.

The source of his regeneration perhaps came during his time out, as the team's young batsmen were forced to fill the breach on tour in the subcontinent.

Ramnaresh Sarwan - now Lara's vice-captain - and Chris Gayle both found new maturity, as Lara acknowledged when he returned to form with a century in the opening match of the World Cup.

The "Prince of Port of Spain" is used to starring without support, but his spur is far greater when it comes from his team-mates.

"They guys played well without me in India and Bangladesh and they're full of confidence," he said after setting the side up for a surprise win over South Africa.

"I told myself that I had to push and shove myself to get to the front of this young, talented side."

Lara's return to his invincible best will not be proven complete unless he can deal with some tough tests in the next year, touring South Africa before West Indies play host to England.

But as they whisper about the possibility of a first ever series victory in the Caribbean, Nasser Hussain's men will be keeping an eye on the form of their nemesis.