Lara Apologises for 'Overreaction'

Brian Lara has apologised for criticising the West Indies selectors and groundsmen, describing his comments as an unfortunate "overreaction."

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) released Lara's faxed apology to the media on Wednesday alongside a letter from WICB president Ken Gordon that chided the West Indies captain for not presenting a unified front to the cricket world.

In the letter, Lara wrote: "I recognize that I broke the confidence placed in me as West Indies captain by my overreaction during and after the 4th Test against India and I apologize to all concerned."

"I would also like to thank my teammates for the progress we have made as a team over the last few months and I hope my unfortunate actions will not in any way deter our march towards further success," Lara added.

In response, Ken Gordon wrote:

Since speaking to you this morning, I have read the full text of your statement made at the end of the 4th test against India. You may also by now have read my email sent to Clive Lloyd on July 03rd and copied to you.

Let me admit that I empathized with the rationale that you outlined during our conversation in support of additional pace against the Indians and the passion of your conviction that the series could have been won by 3 games to 1. We need both conviction and passion to continue to build on what has been achieved.

But we also need to send a signal that a new start is being made. That we will resolve our differences internally and present a unified front to the cricketing world and that West Indies cricket is on the way up again. Your statement did not contribute to sending that message and that was unfortunate.

As mentioned to you, I feel certain that our Board is fully supportive of the principle that the Captain should be comfortable with the team he leads. This does not mean that he can have his way every time but it does mean that his views need to be very carefully weighed. From your comments this morning you clearly did not think that this was done.

Please contact me on your return for I would like to have a frank and open discussion between our Chairman of the Cricket Committee; the Convenor of Selectors and us both. We must ensure that this type of situation does not reoccur.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The WICB released the letters with Clive Lloyd's full e-mail address for all to see.