West Indies skipper to ‘revisit my decision’
Lara considers quitting captaincy
Haydn Gill
*July 3, 2006
Brian Lara dropped a bombshell last night. He might be about to throw in the towel as West Indies captain - again. Frustrated by the turn of events since his appointment as captain for a third time, Lara revealed he would be reviewing his position in the coming days.
In a dramatic disclosure, he announced he had received a letter from the West Indies Cricket Board on the eve of the fourth Test match against India informing him he had been a member of the selection panel since May 28.
“There is a meeting coming up in a week and depending on who the selectors are, I’ll definitely revisit my decision to captain the West Indies team,” Lara told stunned reporters after West Indies lost the Test by 49 runs at Sabina Park, giving India a 1-0 series win. “It’s painful what has gone on in the last couple of months, not just the Test matches, but the one-day matches. I have West Indies cricket at heart, but it’s a situation where my reputation as a captain is being dragged down.”
Throughout the series, Lara complained about not getting the teams he wanted and also expressed displeasure at not being a member of the main selection panel. As it turned out he was, but he never knew until last Thursday. “I made a couple of phone calls, and I’m totally blanked on certain situations,” he said. "As captain, and not knowing I was a selector, I have to accept and move forward. “It did not affect my mood going into this Test match. I knew that I had a job to do, but these little inefficiencies are not becoming of a team or a board that wants to move forward.”
On occasions, Lara said, his “hands were tied behind my back”.
“I said in the press conference after St Lucia that in hindsight, the spinner should have played. Yet, two days later, he was dropped from the entire 14. How do you work these things out? You had seven batsmen; all of a sudden, you have eight. What do you need eight for?”
© The Nation
And Lara has been a member of the selection committee for more than a month now? And he recently discovered this?
Sweet Jesus.
