Lara repays Bermuda support

HAMILTON, Bermuda: West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara has repaid the support given by Bermudians to the regional Test team by starting a five-day visit to the island during which he will play in a 50-overs day-night match, coach junior players and sign autographs. After being met at the Bermuda International Airport on Wednesday night by former Sports Minister Randy Horton, now the Minister of Home Affairs, and other officials, 34-year-old Lara was whisked off to his hotel.

Lara’s publicist Geoffrey Wharton-Lake promised the world’s top-rated batsman would deliver a master class in batting when the Brian Lara Select take on a Bermuda Select in the day-nighter on Sunday at the new National Sports Centre ground on the outskirts of Hamilton. He said Lara “has seen the support” the Bermudians have given West Indies cricket and thinks it’s important that he forges ties with the Bermudian community. Lara’s first visit to Bermuda is being sponsored by the island’s Eastern Counties Cricket Association which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. Lara’s team is expected to include fellow West Indies players Ryan Hinds, Courtney Browne, Fidel Edwards, Omari Banks and Mervyn Dillon.