'Sir Viv Agreed to Team Change'

West Indies captain Brian Lara has dismissed an explosive public claim that he "unilaterally" overruled chief selector Sir Viv Richards when he made a last-minute change to the final eleven for the fourth Test.

"I have the utmost respect for Sir Viv and to suggest that I would consider disrespecting him is unthinkable," Lara wrote in a column published in the Trinidad Guardian.

Lara explained that the decision to include Merv Dillon in place of Adam Sanford was made because of "visible cracks and moisture" in the pitch just before the toss was spun.

"Fidel's fitness was a concern and Dillon was the choice, if Fidel could not make it. However, after looking at the pitch, I noticed that there were visible cracks and moisture, which would have worked in Dillon's favour, because of his height," Lara said.

"Sir Viv was not there and he had to be contacted. When I reached him, he agreed and, as you know, Dillon was selected."

He did not say why Sanford, who took 7 wickets in just two Tests, was eventually the man asked to sit out in favour of Dillon.

Lara's latest explanation about "visible cracks" first came in a previous Trinidad Guardian column where he mentioned that cracks were developing even before play started.

"They were hidden by a generous amount of grass, which I thought would help our fast bowlers, thus the reason to bowl first," Lara explained earlier.

The controversy started after a CricInfo report written by South African journalist Neil Manthorp accused the West Indies captain of performing an "extraordinary about-turn just seconds before the toss" against the wishes of Richards.

In his column, Lara made a point to note that the "misleading article" was penned by a foreign journalist. "I wonder how far 'our' journalists here will go in an effort to correct it," Lara wrote, an obvious tweak at the Caribbean journalists covering the tour, a group that includes Tony Cozier, Colin Croft, Fazeer Mohamed and Ian Bishop.

Lara has been at odds with the reporting of the West Indies journalists -- especially Cozier, who has been extremely harsh in his criticism of the mediocre display on the field.

Cozier, incidentally, published a follow-up to the Manthorp article which noted that team manager Ricky Skerritt had refused to comment.

"Individuals who were in the middle when the toss was made, have confirmed the report, written by South African journalist Neil Manthorp and carried on circinfo.com, that Lara did belatedly alter the team sheet," Cozier wrote.

The veteran scribe said there could be no independent confirmation of Manthorp's claim that Lara had overruled the chairman of selectors.