Lara eager to play 2007 World Cup

He is keen to play in the first World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean next year but Brian Lara accepts that it is up to the selectors to accommodate his stated intention of reducing his number of ODIs leading to the tournament.

"It's a situation where we still have to sit and talk," Lara said. "It's not just my decision but I am very much interested in playing in the World Cup."

He added: "It's West Indies cricket you're talking about. We've got selectors, we've got a coach, we've got a captain and everybody is trying to get everybody in the right groove and get the team gelling. I can't be a hindrance to that and I've told them I want to be a part of that. We'll wait and see."

Although he sought exemption from the physically taxing ODIs last year in an effort to extend his Test career, Lara stressed his intention was still to be in the World Cup team. He hasn't played an ODI since the home series against South Africa last May.

Lara estimated that West Indies have between 20 and 30 ODIs between now and the World Cup. At present, those on the schedule are seven against Zimbabwe and five against India in the forthcoming West Indies international season, a maximum of five in the Champions Trophy in India in October and another five or six in Pakistan in November. Warm-up matches against ICC associate teams are also planned.

Lara, almost a month away from his 37th birthday, pleaded that he would find it "very difficult" to play in all those matches as well as the four Tests against India and three against Pakistan in the same period.

"I think it's necessary that I do play some ODIs because the World Cup is in 12 months time and I'd look forward to playing in some," he said.

It was possible, he conjectured, that the selectors could "nurse" him through by picking the best matches for him to play so that he would be "fit and ready" for the World Cup. Lara has carried various nagging injuries in recent years that have kept him out of regional cricket. Another means that he will not be available for the Trinidad and Tobago team for the Carib Beer Challenge Cup semi-final against the Windward Islands at Guaracara Park starting April 7.

He said he has been given a couple of weeks off to rest an injury in the area of his right hip that has intermittently bothered him since it forced him out of the tour of Zimbabwe in 2001.

"I'd most likely be involved in the final - when, not if, Trinidad and Tobago get in," he added. Lara is scheduled to spend time in India consulting with MRF, his bat and equipment suppliers, before going on to England for promotional appearances.