West Indies skipper Brian Lara poses with the NatWest Series Trophy at Edgbaston yesterday before today's encounter with New Zealand.
-Contributed photoBIRMINGHAM, CMC:
BRIAN LARA steadfastly avoided being drawn into the growing furore over the end of Sir Vivian Richards' chairmanship of the West Indies selection panel as the Caribbean side prepared for their opening match of the NatWest Series against New Zealand this morning (Ja time).
Following a net session in sunny but cool conditions at Edgbaston, the West Indies captain, when faced with the inevitable questions at the pre-match media conference, deflected the issue.
"He (Sir Viv) has made his contribution. I don't know exactly what's happening in the Caribbean in terms of the selectors," Lara explained yesterday, elaborating that he, vice-captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, coach Gus Logie and manager Tony Howard comprise the selection panel on this tour.
"We have a job here to do with 15 one-day players and 16 Test players. Sir Vivian Richards, as a player, as a selector, has made a great contribution to West Indies cricket and I'm sure he will continue to do that in some sort of capacity."
Pressed as to whether it was a distraction to the squad so early in what is expected to be a very difficult campaign, he pleaded ignorance of the complexities of the issue on behalf of his squad.
"Actually, we don't know much about it, being far removed from the Caribbean," Lara claimed.
FINDING OUT
"Of course, you can find out about it on the internet if you want to, but I think the guys don't seem to understand, or are not willing to understand what's happening in the Caribbean. We are playing cricket here and we know that a lot of careers are in the hands of the selectors and we have faith in whoever they (the West Indies Board) put there. Many selectors, Wes Hall and other great players, have been replaced in the past. So it really and truly has no effect on us."
Despite Lara's efforts, the matter will not die down in a hurry, particularly with Richards still so close to the action as a comments personality for radio commentary of the one-day and Test series.
Yet with this match against the Black Caps effectively the tournament opener after Thursday's washout in Manchester between England and New Zealand, the West Indies cannot afford to be anything less than totally focussed on the job at hand, particularly as they face England in Nottingham tomorrow morning (Ja time) in a testing weekend of back-to-back matches.
Whitewashed 3-0 by the English in the preceding Test series, New Zealand are nevertheless considered favourites for the NatWest event, not least because of their reputation as an outstanding fielding team under the well-drilled guidance of coach John Bracewell.
Today's match is also an opportunity for the regional team to address the pattern of slow starts to any series.
"We're looking forward to make an impression early up," Lara stressed. "The trend in our cricket is that we tend to let the opposition make the running and then try to get back in the games. We are getting it together.
WORK TO DO
"We were a bit down after the loss in Ireland, but I thought we batted very well in the matches in Sussex and Kent. We have some work to do with the ball, but I think the guys are going to be much more focussed now that the international series has arrived in getting the balls in the right areas and keeping their front foot behind the line. I will expect a more professional approach."
West Indies XI: Brian Lara (captain), Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Ricardo Powell, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, Ridley Jacobs, Ian Bradshaw, Jermaine Lawson, Ravi Rampaul.
