Chairman of West Indies selectors defends Lara's inclusion in tour party

The chairman of the West Indies selectors, Mike Findlay, has come to the defence of a controversial decision to include Brian Lara in the party to tour Sri Lanka in November.

Lara has been hampered by hamstring injuries for almost a year and was unable to participate totally in training last week because there are still fears that he has not yet fully recovered from the injury. He was forced to return early from the recent West Indies tour of Zimbabwe when the problem flared up once again.

Findlay said: "Brian still has a future in West Indies cricket and he can still make a significant contribution to West Indies cricket. We are not going to allow history to condemn us that we hadn't given one of the best batsmen in the Caribbean and best in the world every assistance we could in sorting his problems, whether they are mental or physical. What appears to some people to be leaning on the side of Brian Lara is not that at all."

Lara proved during the recent Red Stripe Bowl competition that, injured or not, he could still score heavily. He came close to establishing himself as the leading batsman in the competition's history after a prolific season.

There is no doubt that the requirement for a fit and in-form Lara became even greater when a back injury forced Shivnarine Chanderpaul to withdraw from the squad earlier this week.