Captain Lara threatens to quit

Brian Lara © Getty Images

Brian Lara has voiced his frustration at the current West Indies selection process in the aftermath of the Test series defeat against India and admitted he is pondering whether to relinquish his role as captain.

India claimed a first series win in the Caribbean for 35 years after winning the final Test by 49 runs in Kingston on Sunday.

Lara, 37, publicly complained during the four-match series that selectors Joey Carew, Gordon Greenidge, Clyde Butts and head coach Bennett King were ignoring his input.

And now the leading run-scorer in Test history is planning talks with top cricket officials from the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to discuss his future after a “painful” last few months.

“There is a meeting coming up in a week and depending on who the selectors are, I'll definitely revisit my decision to captain the West Indies team,” Lara said after the fourth Test.

“It's painful what has gone on in the last couple of months, not just the Test matches, but the one-day matches.

“I have West Indies cricket at heart, but if it's a situation where my reputation as a captain is being dragged down.

“I made a couple of phone calls, and I'm totally blanked on certain situations.”

Lara, currently in his third stint as skipper, was not part of the selection process for the Test series against India.

But he has now revealed he was made a selector on May 28 but communication from the WICB did not reach him until the eve of the fourth and final Test.

He added: “As captain, and not knowing I was a selector, I have to accept and move forward.

“It did not affect my mood going into this Test match. I knew that I had a job to do, but these little inefficiencies are not becoming of a team or a board that wants to move forward. 

“I said in the press conference after the second Test in St Lucia that in hindsight, the spinner should have played.

“Yet, two days later, he was dropped from the entire 14. How do you work these things out?

“You had seven batsmen. All of a sudden, you have eight. What do you need eight for?”

The Windies are next in action when they travel to India in October hoping to retain the ICC Champions Trophy.