'It's About Even Stevens'

Fri, Sep 24, '04

Embattled West Indies captain Brian Lara isn't about to take personal satisfaction from his team's surprising march to the finals of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament.

"This is not an opportunity for me to prove anybody wrong. This is an opportunity for the team. The team has been under a lot of strain and the youngsters have really stood up there and shown a lot of character," Lara said ahead of the mini-World Cup finals against hosts England.

"The one day team is much different from the test team. Play in the 100 overs matches has been very good, but in 15 session test matches is where we've been getting problems, so I wasn't surprised that we've reached the final," he declared.

He described the Caribbean side as "wounded" but "hungry" and said it would icing on the cake to return home with the winning trophy. "We've got a lot of flamboyant players who are attacking players and the one day game is going to suit them more."

It's a great joy to captain a team that is winning and it would be lovely to continue it for one more game."

Even though England heads into the championship game as favourites, Lara believes it was "about even stevens" in terms of how the two teams matched up. "Of course they're on a high and of course they know that this is the ultimate end of a tremendous summer."

Lara said the West Indies would not focus its spotlights entirely on Andy Flintoff, who has been a match-winner for the England side all summer.

"We're not going to concentrate mainly on him. I think anybody that's facing 50 overs like Trescothick or Solanki or even the number three batter is much more important to us than someone who is batting at five or six. If he comes in early he's under pressure and he's shown he can handle it. We're concentrating on the entire team, not just an individual."