Lara Sets 'Team' Priorities

(In association with Stephanie's Hotel)

GROS ISLET, St Lucia ? The last time Brian Lara batted against Sri Lanka in a Test series, he smashed two centuries and a double hundred in amassing a whopping 688 runs from just six innings at an average of 114.66.

That was two years ago in Sri Lanka when Lara displayed his magic touch against the prodigious swing bowling of Chiminda Vaas and the wily off-spin of Muttiah Muralitharan on pitches tailor-made to suit the two Sri Lankan bowlers.

But on the eve of the short two-match 2003 Cable and Wireless series against Sri Lankans, the West Indies captain says while he wants to get some runs under his belt, team goals are his priority.

?I would love to score runs but I would like the competition within the team to stay. We chased 418 runs against Australia (to win our last Test match in Antigua) and my contribution was 60-odd and that is great within the team environment,? Lara said.

?My person goals are just to be a team member, to bat for the team, make sure that we get the required totals that we need and myself playing a part in it,? Lara declared.

The West Indies play the Sri Lankans in two Tests, the first starting on Friday at scenic Beausejour Stadium, and the second at Sabina Park in Jamaica, June 27 to July 1.

And Lara made it clear that said he doesn?t want a repeat of the 2001 series in Sri Lanka when only one or two guys got runs and consequently the West Indies were white-washed 3-0.

?It showed up quite clearly, cricket is more of a team game, partnerships were needed. We weren?t getting partnerships then,? Lara recalled.

?I might have batted with seven, eight batsmen during my innings. It doesn?t automatically mean that we putting together any partnership. What we need to do (in this series) is to ensure that we get partnerships throughout and not necessarily guys scoring big centuries or we have one guy scoring all the runs,? Lara contended.

?If we get three or four hundred-run partnerships, we?ll get the required total. Whoever gets it really doesn?t matter,? Lara said.

?Of course, we would like one or two guys to go on and make sure that they get big scores for their confidence but this time, we got to play better cricket. We are going to look for longevity in the batting department and we are definitely going to be very attacking in our bowling department,? Lara warned.

?We are still looking for our first successful series?I know Sri Lanka are coming here and they want to win but our guys are looking to move upwardly,? Lara said.

?This is opportunity that we have. It?s ten days of cricket and there?s not much cricket to come after this and this is what we got to focus on. We got to be really hungry over the next ten days to ensure that we get some victories,? added Lara.

FIRST TEST XI

Brian Lara (captain)
Ramnaresh Sarwan (vice-captain)
Omari Banks
Corey Collymore
Mervyn Dillon
Daren Ganga
Chris Gayle
Wavell Hinds
Ridley Jacobs
Marlon Samuels
Jerome Taylor

* This report is sponsored by Stephanie's Hotel, Gros Islet, St Lucia.