What's The Story with Lara?

What, pray tell, is the prognosis for Brian Lara's return to West Indian cricket? I know that, somewhat belatedly, a veil of secrecy has been drawn around his illness and, Lord knows, I don't want to know what he is suffering from ? just when he is expected to be up and batting again.

I am raising this now for two reasons - first, because of the conflicting signals the region has been getting and second, because I would have thought that the Bangladesh series was the perfect series for him to ease himself back into the game.

All the spoken indications, including Brian's own restrained sound bites, have been to the effect that he has been progressing nicely, but here we are with the Bangladesh party having been named and Lara's illustrious name is not on it.?

So what gives?

Look, the man's privacy is the man's privacy but it is West Indies cricket we are talking about and the management of the West Indian game have a duty to tell us whether, with Brian, we are coming or going.

Another month, two months, three...?

All over the world people expect and do get relatively regular bulletins on the progress, or lack of it, of their sporting heroes but, lately, we have been hearing nary a word not even a nod from the selectors that: "Mr Lara is not yet ready for the Bangladesh tour but his doctors have every hope, expectation even, that by the time...."

Ah mean, for all we know, Brian, bless his publicity-shy heart, may have decided to done with cricket and I know that you are saying that that can't be really on but my point is that this could very well be the position as far as we know.

I can't imagine such a shhh...shhh situation in any sport anywhere else in the real world. Ah mean, man, we were privy to every creak in Ronaldo's expensive knee and as for those top lawn tennis players, well, the minute they unhinge an elbow you hearing right through how much longer it taking to hinge it back.

And I am not even asking for daily or even weekly bulletins a la Michael Jordan's jumpy knee. All I am asking is for somebody, Brian, his brother, Carew, his cousin, Wes Hall or his nen-nen, once they know what is going on, to tell us when, or if ever, the man will be able to make it back.

Is West Indies cricket we talking about. Not some private fete match side somewhere in the back of Bravo-Bravo. And West Indian fans, looking towards the future shape of the team, deserve to know what are all the options, as we look down and even beyond the World Cup road.

Assuming that the Bangladeshis don't give us any trouble and the West Indian batsmen, to a man, bang them all over the place, the minds of the West Indian fans will turn to picking the team for the World Cup in South Africa, the question being which of the batters to drop given a fit Brian.

But fit when? I suppose we could take comfort from the fact that the World Cup is still a couple months away and assume that our best batting boy "bung" to be ready for that, but I do wish that somebody would have the courage to do away with all this uncalled-for coyness and say something to the effect that:
"Even though Brian is not Bangladesh-bound, he is working himself up to full fitness and by the time the World Cup comes around any of them bowlers who ent dead go be badly wounded...."

In more elegant English, of course, but no matter how they say it, I don't know about the rest of you, but I am in need for some assurance. Sure, the fact that the World Cup is all of two months away should, in itself, be assurance enough but you mean we can?t get the official word just to make assurance double sure?

* Keith Smith is editor-at-large for the Trinidad Express, where this commentary first appeared.