Lara to Answer for 'Unbecoming Conduct'

Brian Lara is being summoned before a special WICB committee to answer for "conduct unbecoming" of a West Indies captain.

Following his outbursts after the fourth Test against India in Jamaica -- which included several public criticisms of the selection panel and a public ultimatum to the board -- the WICB has set up a four-man committee headed by president Ken Gordon to investigate the matter.

In the absence of a code-of-conduct (which has not yet been signed with the West Indies Players Association), the board of directors decided to let a special committee handle the investigation.

At a general meeting in Barbados this week, the WICB decided that Lara's comments were "unbecoming" but wanted to give the captain an opportunity to be heard before taking any action.

The investigating committee -- which also includes Sir Alister McIntyre, Clive Lloyd and Gregory Shillingford -- will take appropriate action after meeting with Lara.

McIntyre and Lloyd are new WICB directors and Shillingford is chairman of the board's grounds committee.

A published report in the Trinidad Guardian that Lara was retained as captain for the ICC Champions Trophy is inaccurate. The board decided to officially include the West Indies captain on the selection committee but, since the new panel has not even convened for its first meeting, a decision on the captaincy has not yet been made.

Following the Test match and series loss against India, Lara publicly accused the ground authorities in Jamaica of "totally preparing" the pitch for the Indians.

While batting during the game, Lara pointed his bat and mockingly applauded the groundsman and followed up during the post match presentation ceremony with pointed remarks aimed at the selectors.

"There?s a meeting coming up in a couple weeks and, depending on the selectors, I?ll definitely revisit my decision to captain the West Indies...I had seven batsmen for the first couple Test matches, I played six, yet I was given eight for the last two Test matches. I don?t know how you work that one out. I would like to see Morton out there if I was playing an extra batter, but it?s unfortunate. That was a puzzle by itself," he said.

"I have to accept what happens. I?ve made a couple phone calls, and I?m totally blanked on certain situations I made calls when I knew things that I needed. I needed certain individuals out there and it was still left up to the selectors? I feel that if we had a couple different faces, I think the series would have gone in a different direction," Lara added.