Lara carried Windies batting for almost 2 decades: Ken Gordon

West Indies Cricket Board president Ken Gordon feels that more than a captain, Brian Lara will as remembered as a man who carried the Caribbean batting for almost two decades.

And about Lara's captaincy, spread over three terms, Gordon was quoted by local media as saying: ''If I had to sum it up, I would say it was mixed.'' ''He was a supreme performer as a batsman, but while captaining the team, there was too much baggage on him.'' ''Too many things were occurring. Whether that came from some of his own styles or not, the fact is when you are dealing with a genius like that, it is never easy. You go down the line of all the people who have been successful as batsmen from the days of Frank Worrell coming right down,'' he said.

''Lara came on the scene. He made an impact by pulling the team together in a way that was not existing because if you remember, things had gone pretty badly immediately before that. He pulled the team together. There was a distinct improvement in the performance of the team.'' ''So that there has been a disappointment in his performance as captain, yes, but that must never overshadow his true worth to what he has done for West Indies cricket,'' Gordon said.

About West Indies' showing in the World Cup the WICB chief said, ''My greatest disappointment was not being beaten by those teams, but how we were beaten because we didn't fight. You didn't get a sense of a genuine, serious commitment fighting it out there.'' ''Before the World Cup the team had some strong successes in the tri-nation series and so on and we were very pleased about that.

And we all thought 'yes, it's going to work', '' Gordon said.

''We were all basing that on the talent that we know is there, but the bottom line is that, that talent is not consistent enough, it is not professional enough and therefore it falls down under real pressure.'' ''Thereafter, we know we slipped because things have not gone well in the World Cup. Mark you, if you look at it clinically, we have been beaten by the teams that are more strongly prepared, more professionally prepared and are better teams,'' Gordon concluded.

UNI HSB DH HT1730

Viewer's Comment

Comments Not Available

More Stories