'The decline started under Viv Richards' - Lara

Speaking with candour a few days before the Champions Trophy, Brian Lara admitted that West Indies had a long way to go even though all the signs of a team in the making were there. While his outlook was cautiously positive, he revealed that the team would not take even Bangladesh lightly; the last time they met, West Indies scraped through with a few close victories.

Lara spoke about his team's chances in the one-day arena: "We are much better at the shorter version of the game. It's about guys playing good cricket spontaneously," he said, before turning his attention to the Champions Trophy. "The most important thing is that when we face [South Africa] on the 18th, hopefully having got over Bangladesh, we've got to show we're capable of beating them. It's a situation we're not going to be taking lightly."

Lara was positive in his belief that West Indies would be a good team again, and he touched upon the topic of the team's downfall. He said it was not a trend that had started while he was captain, but that it had begun as early as 1988, when Vivian Richards - a fierce critic of Lara's captaincy - led the team.

"If you put five or six players who are just 20 or 21 years old to play Test cricket without any experience, you will struggle," Lara said. "India are playing the same team for the last seven or eight years. Watch the difference between their performance then and now. Eight years back, they were just turning up. Maybe that's the situation we have to face now.

"The decline of West Indies cricket started under Sir Vivian Richards. They weren't winning 5-0 under him in the '90s. That has come to the percentage it is now after 14 years. I have to put my hand up and say, I'm in charge - but what can I do? It's a very tough situation.

"I say, chop my head off if you want to. But it's not the solution. We need to get all the astute thinkers in West Indies cricket to sit down together, take proper measures and plan for the future. It's not going to happen overnight. It's not happening soon. It will take a long time."

Lara refused to acknowledge that only the players were to blame for the downward trend, and instead named a variety of factors, namely the administration, as well as tour retainers.

"Lots of people only focus on the team, on what the team is doing, and on the performance of the players. But it's quite deep-rooted. It's a combination of different factors," he said. "The administration has to be better. If you have to play international sport, these days it can't be on a retainer basis. We are getting an extension from tour to tour. A lot of things have to be sorted out.

"I know there are so many things being said and a lot of things have been pointed at my direction. But I keep saying over and over that I'm a servant of West Indies cricket and will continue to be so in whatever capacity. I've played cricket for 15 years. It's been my life. Nothing belongs to me. Whatever I've achieved belongs to my people and my country."