Determined Lara aims to hit back

Brian Lara is determined to lead West Indies cricketers against England in the Trinidad Test tomorrow despite a sore finger. He dislocated the little finger of his right hand during his side’s 10-wicket defeat in the First Test in Jamaica. “There is still some swelling and stiffness in the joint, but I have every intention of playing. I don’t think there is any possibility of me sitting out this one,” said Lara, who will be playing in front of his home island fans. He has urged them not to lose faith in the team despite the humiliation of being bowled out for 47 in the second innings at Sabina Park. “We need the support in times of disappointment, in times of hardship,” Lara said. “We find ourselves with our backs against the wall, and will be fighting back — but we need their support to do so.”

England believe the wicket will not be as fast in Port-of-Spain and they will have to work harder to work their way through the West Indies batting line-up. All-rounder Andrew Flintoff has stressed the importance of holding their catches as they did in Jamaica. “We’ve held onto a few and that’s important with some of their players because you can’t afford to give them two chances — it’s something we’ve worked hard at over the last few months,” he said. “Sometimes you get into a run when you’re catching things in the slips you just seem to grab everything, but when you start dropping them you can drop everything. “But it’s something we spoke about in the meetings leading up to the series and since we got out here, stressing the need to take our chances and setting very high standards for ourselves in the field and I think we’re showing that.”