Lara Bouncer

Birmingham - Brian Lara seems destined to be forever pursued by persistent controversy. No sooner than he had returned to international cricket and had seemingly regained his appetite for the game he has graced with his enormous talent than he had to contend with anonymous allegations, out of South Africa, that he gambled on matches in which he was engaged during the West Indies tour there in 1993.

It is an upsetting and untimely distraction that has understandably rankled Lara.

He said in his column in the Mail On Sunday here yesterday he was saddened and angry' at the claims, reportedly lodged with the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) in an affidavit from an unnamed businessman.

'I have never placed any bets nor did I give any information to a bookmaker regarding the likely scenario for the matches,' Lara stated in his column. 'I was never handed any money for winning bets or otherwise. In short, I categorically deny all the allegations made against me. They are absolute and total rubbish.'

Team manager Ricky Skerritt met with a distraught Lara at the team's Crowne Plaza Hotel here well into the night after the report first appeared Friday.

Lara's lawyers have also been involved.

Skerritt immediately blocked Press queries with a statement that he would participate in no discussions on the matter. But West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president Pat Rousseau, in a separate statement, has revealed that he has requested the WICB to 'conduct a thorough investigation in keeping with our policy of dealing firmly but fairly with charges of impropriety in West Indies cricket'.

Rousseau made it plain that, until any allegation is proven, he accepts Lara's position and supports him 'fully'.

So an unwarranted cloud now hangs over Lara and, unless carefully handled, by team management and by the WICB, it has the potential to develop into another full-fledged storm of which there have been so many during his career.

Lara, it is well established, has been overwhelmed by the constant public attention his fame has brought him. He complained, as far back as 1995, that cricket was ruining his life and started the current England tour with some reluctance after taking a complete break from the game for four months.

During that time he spent time with a sports psychologist in New Jersey and only made up his mind to join the team at the eleventh hour. He has returned refreshed and obviously eager to do well.

Now he has to deal with what he considers a bogus charge.

'Such is the mood of paranoia and distrust produced by the Hansie Cronje scandal that any high-profile international cricketer is now at risk from unfounded accusations or bare-faced lies as they are from the individuals seeking to corrupt the game in the first place,' he commented in his column.

'And there is a danger Of the genuine process involved in rooting out the evil becoming twisted into a kind of witch-hunt that damages the innocent as well as the guilty.'

Lara needs all the support he can get in this. Skerritt has been already by his side. So has Rudi Webster, the team's performance consultant who has become a confidant since his appointment just over a year ago.

Jimmy Adams is not only his captain. He is also a trusted friend. He, too, will be a rock on which Lara can depend. A long summerlies ahead. It needs Lara focused and at his best.