No major changes in Third Test team

West Indies captain Brian Lara has ruled out wholesale changes for the Third Test, despite a seven-wicket defeat to England in Trinidad. “Some of us senior players have not come up to scratch but we don’t need to press the panic button yet,” he said. “We have got faith in the guys selected but we need to face up to the responsibility ourselves. “This is an all-round game and you have got to bat well and bowl well but we need to improve in all areas.” Lara, who was bowled for a duck in the first innings and dismissed for 8 in the second after dropping down to sixth in the order, has offered no excuses for his own poor form. “I’ve got to work as hard as possible, not just physically but mentally, to get back into the series and to give a good show,” he admitted.

“I have to try and keep my head more still at the crease and I’m going across my stumps a little bit too much. “I’ll be working very hard and getting into the nets with a bowling machine with the ball swinging back into me over the next week. “It’s a situation I’ve been in before and climbed out of it on many occasions and I still back myself to do so again. “I don’t think it’s the bottom of the pit, it’s just a case of getting into the nets and believing in myself again,” he said. This latest defeat was the West Indies’ fifth in their last six Tests and their sixth in the last seven in Trinidad but Lara is trying to focus on some positives.

“We are getting good starts and building some good partnerships but then losing wickets at crucial times which really hinders us,” he said. “Being 100 without loss and then 110 for three at lunch really brought England back into the morning session in the first day. “It has been part of our game over the past few months where we either have been batting well or bowling well but not both together. “We are going to go away and get some rest and come back fighting for the next Test in Barbados,” he said.