Lara grows into his role as the father figure of a new West Indies

As Australia were ruthlessly trouncing West Indies in the first three Tests of their recent series, Brian Lara might have wondered what he had got himself into by taking up the captaincy once more.

When he quit the post four years ago, the mercurial Trinidadian was so depressed he took four months off, was said to have considered retirement and had to consult a psychiatrist.

This time, as Australia reeled off victories by nine wickets (twice) and 118 runs, losing only 28 of their 60 wickets in the process, Lara's reaction was resilience rather than resignation. He kept repeating that, whatever the results, his young team – with an average age of 24 in the Second and Third Tests, the youngest West Indies had ever put into the field – were improving all the while.

On Tuesday at the Antigua Recreation Ground, Lara's belief was vindicated as his West Indies, ranked above only Zimbabwe and Bangla-desh in the International Cricket Counciltable, beat the seemingly invincible Australians by amassing 418 for 7 in their second innings – a winning total not achieved in 126 years of Test cricket.

It was, Lara said, "the greatest cricketing experience I've ever had", and he has had enough to fill a lifetime. He placed it above his 375 against England, and above his remarkable unbeaten 153 that, virtually by itself, led West Indies to a similarly unlikely victory in Bridgetown during his first tenure at the helm.

Those were personal achievements. This was a team effort in which most of the 11 had significant roles without relying on his individual brilliance. Not that he failed personally for he was the only player in the match to pass 50 in both innings. But, when he was bowled by Stuart MacGill with the second innings on 165 for 4, 418 was still light years away.

It needed aggressive hundreds by Ramnaresh Sarwan, his young vice-captain, and the established Shivnarine Chanderpaul to rattle the Australians and set up the victory, and a level-headed, unbroken partnership of 46 between Omari Banks, an ice-cool 20-year-old, and the shrewd old pro Vasbert Drakes to secure it.

"It showed true character and it showed the progression of the team, mentally and physically," Lara said. Now, he said, West Indies would not lose another Test this year. Two against Sri Lanka follow next month, with others in November and December in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

It was the prospect of leading a brigade of promising adolescents that prompted Lara into having another shot at captaincy when the selectors removed Carl Hooper after the side's elimination from the World Cup.

The oldest member of the team (he turned 34 on 2 May) and more mature than when first appointed captain in 1998, he now has the advantage of the generation gap that also favoured two of his most illustrious predecessors, Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd.

Banks, tall, slim and Anguilla's first Test cricketer, was one of five newcomers, all in their early 20s, introduced in the series. Sarwan, 22, and Chris Gayle, 23, the left-handed opener, have been in the team for three years, Marlon Samuels, 22, the stylish middle-order batsman, for two and a half.

Jermaine Lawson, the big, robust 21-year-old Jamaican, had only four Tests to his name prior to this series, all away. He provided the attack with the thrust and hostility it has lacked since the exit of Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, until his jerky action ran foul of umpires David Shepherd and Srinivas Venkataraghavan while he destroyed Australia's first innings in Antigua with seven wickets.

He must now spend six weeks righting it but, with a host of great fast bowlers of the past here to help him, there is no reason why he shouldn't be back again, as Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee have managed to do to the ICC's satisfaction. It is essential that he does, for the most glaring weakness in Lara's team is the bowling.

Whether the captain's second coming is ultimately any more rewarding than the first depends on whether his young charges can build on their experiences against Australia. Their extraordinary comeback in Antigua was a vital shot of self-confidence, an ingredient in short supply in West Indies cricket of late.