Jump, Lara, jump! - Hunte (10 March 1999)

10 March 1999

Jump, Lara, jump! - Hunte

Tony Best in New York

The debacle in the first Test match against Australia should force West Indies skipper Brian Lara to consider stepping down before the second Test begins on Saturday.

That suggestion has come from Julian Hunte, until recently the vice-president of the West Indies Cricket Board.

But Lara shouldn't be the only one to be replaced, he said, repeating his call for Clive Lloyd's ouster and suggesting that Joel Garner was the man for the manager's job.

That move should be made, he declared, before the current series was finished.

Hunte, St. Lucia's ambassador to the United Nations, believes Malcolm Marshall should also be forced out and Roger Harper appointed instead.

An effort should be made to get Viv Richards involved in the effort to rebuild West Indies cricket, he said.

"I feel you need a new captain and allow Brian Lara to concentrate on his batting.

"It is quite clear up to this point in time that a good cricketer he is, a fine batsman he is, as well, but a leader of men he is not."

But Hunte isn't suggesting that the WICB, on which he served for more than 20 years, should act now to remove Lara.

"It's a matter which should be left to him to decide," he said.

Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)