Lara Pulls Out

As if the struggling West Indies cricket team needed another setback, they were hit by just that yesterday.

The Caribbean side, in Zimbabwe for a triangular Coca-Cola Cup One-Day tournament and two-Test series, lost star batsman Brian Lara to injury on the eve of their first game in a triangular One-Day tournament against the hosts today.

The double world record-holder pulled out of the tour because of a right hamstring injury, having been told by a specialist he needed three to six weeks' rest.

I want to get fit again, he said after reluctantly aborting the tour.

The Windies start today awaiting news of the replacement player who has been requested by captain Carl Hooper and coach Roger Harper.

I want to feel how I felt at the beginning of the England tour last year, Lara told the small group of West Indian journalists and broadcasters covering the tour. I want to play cricket. I want to give of my best.

He added a rider that dismissed any suggestion he considered himself on the down slope of his career.

I might be at the crossroads and I might be in my 30s competing against guys in their early 20s, but I think a fit Brian Lara is still capable of being the best, he said.

He even spoke optimistically of being back for the Kenya leg of the tour August 1-19 after rest and treatment back in Port-of-Spain, but the domestic limited-overs tournament in the West Indies in October would be more realistic.

A year-and-a-half ago, Lara's spirit demanded he needed a break from cricket.

He quit the captaincy, missed the home series against Zimbabwe and Pakistan and consulted with an American psychologist before returning for the summer's tour of England.

Now his body has forced him to take the rest that has been recommended by several doctors for his injury, but that he has been unable to get because of the West Indies' crowded international programme.

He acknowledged it was sad that it had come to this.

If, in hindsight, we knew this was going to happen, someone would have been out here preparing for the series, he said. It's unfortunate that it has taken place.

The star left-hander revealed he first damaged his hamstring exactly a year ago in a match at Chelmsford against New Zealand A on the West Indies tour of England.

Lara called the year a long, frustrating period for me, especially after he expected England to be a very big series based on his early form.

Even though he put his fitness throughout at between 75 and 80 per cent, he played in all 15 Tests and in all but one of the 22 One-Day Internationals in that time.

Lara said he had tried several treatments, including acupuncture, but none solved the problem. Rest was the only cure he hadn't been able to get.

It's not only on the field, he said. We've got a lot of preparation to do off the field in team work and team spirit that I'm unable to take part in and that, in itself, breeds a lot of frustration.

Lara returns to Port-of-Spain tonight after a few days in London where he said he had important matters to discuss with his lawyer. Back home, he will continue having what he termed basic treatment.