Sir Viv: Lara remains strong

BRIDGETOWN: West Indies chairman of selectors Sir Vivian Richards has tipped team captain Brian Lara to remain strong in the face of heavy defeat against England and criticism of his leadership. Lara’s West Indies side crashed to defeat at Kensington Oval in the third Cable & Wireless Test inside three days Saturday that handed touring England their first series triumph in the Caribbean in 36 years and plunged passionate regional cricket fans into mourning.

In February 2000, Lara stepped down from his first stint as West Indies captain after a series of poor results, but Sir Vivian suggested yesterday that the 34-year-old Trinidadian should stay positive under the pressure. “It’s important that he continues to show his resilience and the faith that maybe people had put in him to lead this team to the very end,” Richards said in an interview on Voice of Barbados Radio. “It’s so easy to run away from responsibilities, but I would like to think that he is man enough, and just judging from the way he would have performed over the years, he can accomplish that,” Sir Vivian added.

Lara’s West Indies, beaten 3-0 by South Africa on their 2003/2004 tour, have exhibited dismal batting form in the current series against England and have failed to challenge the tourists — beaten by ten wickets at Sabina Park, seven wickets at Queen’s Park Oval, and eight wickets at Kensington Oval. Richards, a legendary West Indies batsman, who as captain inflicted emphatic wins over the English during the 1980s, 5-0 in 1986 and 4-0 in 1988, said this is a very difficult period for Lara. “He has shown lots of interest in my view to be wanting to move forward and progress, (but) it hasn’t quite worked out because of the results that we would have seen. This particular series itself would have been very devastating for the young man,” Sir Vivian said.

Suggesting he could not speak for Lara, Sir Vivian said it is clear that the former world record holder is “down” at the moment but is showing signs of facing the challenge bravely. “I think he should be down at this particular point, but hearing some of the excerpts from the (Lara’s) interview on (Saturday), he is thinking about moving forward, this is the way great men do things,” Sir Vivian said. Fans and reporters heavily criticised Lara over his use of bowlers during the Third Test, but Sir Vivian declined to judge Lara’s on-field decisions. “I like to think that when an individual is in charge out there, that’s his call,” he said.  The West Indies selectors were meeting yesterday to pick a squad for the Fourth and final Test match starting at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) on Saturday.