Lara rues injuries to key WI players

A series of injuries to key players has kept the West Indies team from peak performance this year, captain Brian Lara wrote in a newspaper column published yesterday. Pace bowler Jermaine Lawson, one of the sport’s fastest bowlers, has been out with a side strain for more than a year, Lara noted in his regular column. Spinner Omari Banks, who starred in a record-setting 418-run last innings to beat Australia last year, has been out with a side strain since December. Having a strong spinner in the Fourth Test match with England in Antigua last month could have brought a win instead of a draw, Lara said.

“In hindsight, we would have cruised to victory in that match if we had the services of any specialist spinner on such a pitch,” he said. He said the injuries have disrupted the team’s line-up. “In every team there is a core of player who make for its existence and when that becomes fragile, the team obviously suffers,” Lara wrote. “As captain of the West Indies team I found myself having to rearrange that core because of absent players through injuries. In any normal situation the senior players would look after themselves and also take one or two younger players under their wings.”

Young players also have been struggling with injuries. Fast bowler Jerome Taylor, 19, has a stress fracture in his lower back. Marlon Samuels, 23, has knee problems. Wavell Hinds, has a lingering groin strain.  After being named “Man Of the Match” in the record setting Test match win over Australia last year, batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul missed a home series against Sri Lanka and a match in South Africa in January. The West Indies, two time World Cup winners in 1975 and 1979, are currently ranked eighth in both Test and One-Day cricket. The West Indies play bottom-ranked Bangladesh in the first of three One-Day Internationals on Saturday in St Vincent. Those will be followed by two Test matches against Bangladesh, and then the West Indies travel to play England in late June. (AP)