Sarwan says he wants West Indies captaincy

Current captain Brian Lara is due to retire from one-day cricket at the end of the World Cup and he has declined to confirm whether he will lead the test side on the upcoming tour of England.

''If given the opportunity I will grab it with both hands,'' Sarwan told reporters after training today.

''We will just have to wait and see, we have two World Cup games ahead of us. Whether Brian is the captain, whoever else captains the West Indies team I will give them my full support but if the chance comes my way I will go for it,'' he added.

One solution that may appeal to the West Indies Cricket Board is to stick with Lara as captain of the test team while appointing another captain, probably Sarwan for one-day games.

''There is a possibility but I am not sure what is going to happen, I don't know what choices the selectors or the board are going to make,'' said Sarwan.

Although West Indies are virtually out of the running for a semi-final place in the World Cup, the 26-year-old Guyanese batsman said the remaining matches against Bangladesh and England were important in terms of morale.

''After the World Cup is over we are going to England and we need some sort of confidence and momentum going to England, we have a long tour ahead of us and so these two games are very important,'' he said.

Sarwan rejected the charge that the team had not been fully fit for the World Cup.

''When you play badly people start to criticise different things,'' he said.

''We didn't field well in Guyana (against Sri Lanka) and obviously against South Africa and that gets pinpointed when you lose. But I think the guys are fully fit and will continue to give their full efforts,'' he said.

The seven-week World Cup, the first in the Caribbean, will culminate in the April 28 final in Barbados.

REUTERS PDS PM0109

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