Lara Won't Be Ready For Bangladesh Tour

Recovering West Indies Batsman Brian Lara is hoping to make a full recovery in time for Trinidad and Tobago's Red Stripe matches in 2003 and the upcoming series in the Caribbean.

"Brian at this moment is resting as best as possible and just trying to recover; at this stage it would be pretty hard for him to make a return to the team in time for the Bangladesh series in November," said a close friend of the star batsman.

"Instead he is looking at the Red Stripe Bowl to regain his cricket fitness and then the upcoming series, He knows he has not been involved in regional cricket for a while so he hopes to make it this time, he is still recovering at the moment," he added.

Meanwhile, Lara would like to see West Indies back at the top of cricket again very soon and he believes we have the talent in the Caribbean to do such. "Looking at the Test rankings and seeing New Zealand and stuff ahead of us - I don't know how they do these ratings - I don't think we should be in that position really. I'd like to be a part of a team that is going to leave the shores of the West Indies, go abroad, and beat top teams. Beat Australia. Beat South Africa," declared Lara.

Lara is almost sure that West Indies can get there. "I have no bones in saying that we've got the most talented cricketers in the world. I mean I don't see too many 21-year-olds batting like Sarwan and Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels and these guys. What happens in the next couple of years - the apprenticeship period - is that the other cricketers in the other countries seem to come on much better. Maybe we need to put a mechanism into place whereby we ensure that these youngsters get the right training - if it be the mental side or the physical - whatever it takes."

Even his 688 runs in six innings couldn't prevent West Indies losing all three Tests in Sri Lanka in 2001. It hurt Lara. "That was really and truly my main goal. The runs and the averages, what they really have to do is to see us come back to the top, to see us win. It didn't happen in Sri Lanka," he added.

"Before Sri Lanka, a lot of people were saying negative stuff but I was able to set things straight. From there, I don't want to find myself back in the situation where people are guessing if I can play cricket or not.I want to be a consistent individual. I want to be someone my team can depend on all the time."

The 33-year-old Lara openly refers to "faulty technique" in his batting. "One of my major problems is that my back-lift is so high that sometimes the bat comes from outside the line of the ball; I tend to chop across the line." It is precisely what Sobers, Lara's close friend and advisor, had told him before the Sri Lanka series.

He remembers clearly his dismissals in the Trinidad Test against India, which West Indies lost. "I got out caught behind twice - at slip and by the wicketkeeper - because of the lack of strength in my hands because of the injury. I tried to use the pace of the ball behind the wicket instead of playing up in front. As soon as I get back to full strength, I'll definitely be aiming to play with the full face of the bat."

SOURCE: Andre Baptiste.