Richardson lavishes praise on Lara

Richie Richardson, former West Indies captain, u-turned on his earlier criticism of Brian Lara's captaincy, attributing West Indies's success in the ODI series against India to his imaginative leadership. West Indies won nine out of their eleven home ODIs this season, which included a 5-0 drubbing of Zimbabwe and a 4-1 victory against India.

Richardson had earlier criticised Lara's appointment as captain for the third time in his career, saying that he lacked support from his players. Instead, he supported elevating vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan to the post, but was convinced the West Indies board reverted to Lara for the sake of getting instant results, with no long-term objective.

"A lot of people thought they should have annihilated Zimbabwe", Richardson told The Nation News. "It didn't happen. Maybe there was a concerted effort to try and do something different [against India], and have a different approach.

"I really don't know what transpired, but I believe Brian Lara had a part to play in that. Just the way he went about his job, especially in the field. He was there with a purpose."

Richardson also believed that Lara would have been spurred by negative comments, after Sir Vivian Richards also stated that his appointment was based on commercial considerations ahead of next year's World Cup. "Maybe something like that inspired Brian Lara. He is the sort of guy that if you criticise him, he's going to want to prove you wrong."