'Getting to the final was a plus' - Lara
Though it ended badly, with a 127-run hammering in Australian hands, Brian Lara was fairly satisfied with West Indies efforts over the past fortnight
Dileep Premachandran in Kuala Lumpur
24-Sep-2006
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Though it ended badly, with a 127-run hammering in Australian hands, Brian
Lara was fairly satisfied with West Indies efforts over the past
fortnight. And though they have to pre-qualify to defend their Champions
Trophy crown, Lara was confident that those three matches would help their
cause before they came up against the big boys.
"I thought in the first half of the game, in the field, the guys worked
really hard," said Lara, when asked for his thoughts on the match.
"Unfortunately, we didn't get things going in the second half. We lost too
many wickets early on, and put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We have
crumbled in the past in this tournament, and it happened again this time
from the beginning.
"Getting to the final was a plus. We've got a week in Malaysia before
getting to the ICC [Champions Trophy], and we're going to be trying our
best there. We are the defending champions and we have to go into that full of
bottle, full of zest, and do ourselves proud."
Lara reckoned that the format might even play into West Indian hands. "I
see it as a good way of going into the tournament," he said. "Australia,
England, and Pakistan will arrive for their first game, but we will
already have had three games going in. That's a slight plus."
Qualifying for the final here, ahead of a higher-ranked Indian team, was
cause for satisfaction. "I do feel that being second-best against two
teams rated higher than us was a good effort," he said. "I still have
confidence in the guys, and it's just a question of working on the
physical, mental, and technical aspects of our game."
It also pleased him that West Indies beat both Australia and India during
the fortnight even with some players patently out of form. "Some guys are
limited in their skills, and they want to work and enhance their game as
much as possible," he said. "We have two or three coaches. We've got
trainers, physios, and everyone trying to gel together and ensure not only
that we win tournaments, but that we get better."
Despite a brittle middle order, Lara was optimistic when asked what
positives he took from the tournament. "I think Dwayne Smith - we just
need to get his batting together," he said. "You can see he's a
power-hitter, but we need to get him to spend more time in the middle. I
think Jerome Taylor improved as the tournament progressed. Chris Gayle had
a pretty good tournament. We've got five or six in and around form. There
are other players we have to massage and get together. I still believe in
them."
There was also no fuss over his own dismissal, given out caught after the
bat had brushed the pad. "Of course I was disappointed to get out, but these
things happen," he said. And though he trudged back slowly, Lara suggested
that he certainly hadn't been angling for a recall to the middle. "When
the umpire gives me out, I'm not going to go back," he said, perhaps
referring to the Sachin Tendulkar incident
on Friday evening.
They may have come up well short today, but on placid Indian pitches with
lightning fast outfields, the West Indian batting remains capable of
shocking anyone. And if they can get Corey Collymore fit and into rhythm,
they'll be dangerous floaters in a draw that has several teams struggling
for a semblance of form.
Dileep Premachandran is features editor of Cricinfo