King backing Lara to find form quickly

WEST INDIES coach Bennett King is backing Brian Lara to find form quickly even though the batting star has not played competitive cricket since the VB Triangular Series in Australia in January. Lara missed the Carib Beer Series through injury and did not play in the first Test against South Africa in Guyana last week after he turned down an invitation by the West Indies Cricket Board to do so. However, the elegant left-hander has made himself available to play in the second Test against South Africa starting today and took a lengthy knock in nets on Wednesday as he prepared for the encounter. “Yeah, he probably looked a bit scratchy at first,” King said.

“But with experienced players they don’t really need too much time, and my experience has told me, one to two hours and they are ready to play a game of cricket because of their experience, and how many balls they have hit in the past.” King, presiding over his first Test series as West Indies coach, also said the returning players Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo would definitely be a fillip for the team. “They’ve played a lot of international cricket and obviously their records are very strong, which is one of the reasons why they’re in,” King explained.

“They’ve performed really well, so we’re expecting a better performance from a batting perspective, but their experience and knowledge of international cricket should also be a benefit to us.” Bravo, who has been struggling with an injury that kept him from doing extensive bowling for Trinidad and Tobago in the Carib Beer Series, now seems fit and also had a thorough work out in the nets Wednesday. “Dwayne hit some pretty good areas for us today,” King said. “Obviously he hasn’t had a long bowling stint in the middle, but his general fitness is always good, so we’re expecting him to be one of the front-runners when we bowl.” Both teams will be vying for the lead in the Digicel Test series after the first Test in Guyana was drawn last Monday.