Lara
MELBOURNE, CMC:
WHILE OFFERING the proviso that he was taking nothing for granted given the recent turbulence in West Indies cricket, Brian Lara is hopeful of appearing at the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean, although he is not happy that the hosts will be based in just one island at the preliminary phase.
"It would be really nice to play at the World Cup," the West Indies captain stated on the eve of his team's opening match of the VB Series against Australia today (Thursday night Caribbean time) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
"Unfortunately, I'm a bit saddened by the fact that the majority of our games will be played in Jamaica. I would really love to see the West Indies play around the Caribbean for the benefit of the people. It's a great spectacle to have maybe the greatest sporting event ever in Caribbean history there. But even for all that, I would still love to play in 2007."
INTERNATIONAL CAREER
If his international career prolongs for another two years, Lara will appear in his fifth World Cup at the age of 37.
The allocation of venues for the tournament last July placed the home team at Sabina Park in Kingston for their group matches.
Defending champions Australia will be based at a new venue in St Kitts, England and their legion of fans will make St Lucia's Beausejour Stadium their home base in the early going, while 2003 beaten finalists India can expect sentimental support in Trinidad and Tobago as they play their opening fixtures at the Queen's Park Oval.
Yet as much as the prospect of a World Cup on home soil is a tantalising prospect, the experience of the recent impasse between the West Indies Cricket Board and the Players Association has taught the champion left-hander an important lesson.
"I'm taking each tour one at a time," Lara explained. "At 35, you never know what could crop up ... It's so unpredictable in the West Indies, before I came out here I was sacked. I don't know what's the situation and I can't tell what the future holds for me."
Lara and 15 other players were initially ruled out of consideration for the tour over their failure to sign contracts ahead of a three-week training camp in Barbados.
