Tony Becca
BRIAN LARA is back as the West Indies captain for the third time and, after his record on the two previous occasions - from 1996 to 2000 and from 2002 to 2005 - good luck to him this time around.
As a young man, Lara, who boasted the trappings of a leader and looked like a leader, appeared destined to captain the West Indies.
Unfortunately, however, and for whatever reason - including, maybe, his greatness, his genius as a batsman - he did not live up to his promise.
Maybe it was because of his skill with the bat, the gift which made him perform when others could not, and his ability to score heavily while rescuing the West Indies or leading them to victory why, at times, he attempted to be a law unto himself, why, on so many occasions, he was always in confrontation with the board and why he failed to motivate the players.
There were also times when his field placing and his bowling changes were baffling; times when he stood in the slips looking unconcerned with what was happening around him.
And, despite the many shortcomings of the team, maybe that is why his record as a captain, like those of Carl Hooper and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is so disappointing and why so many are asking why Lara again.
THE BEST MAN?
The truth, however, is that despite his previous failings, when the members of the cricket committee, the selection panel and the board look around, they probably felt they had no choice but to go back to Lara and hope for the best this time around.
The question, however, is this: Is Lara the best man for the job?
Based on his record on and off the field, he is not - even though there is not even one player ready for it.
There is no question, how-ever, that Lara has the bearing, the look of a leader on and off the field, and that despite the many whispers coming from the players about his selfishness, about his lack of preparation as part of the team, he has a strong influence on the players.
Although there are those, including some of the region's greatest players, who believe that that influence is not good for the team - those who believe the influence is such that once Lara is around West Indies cricket will continue to suffer, the cricket committee, the selectors and the board may well have come to the con-clusion that the West Indies cannot do without Lara as a batsman.
That they cannot drop him from the team and that once he is in the team, he, as the most senior player, as the one who looks the part and as the one they are depending on to score the bulk of the runs, may as well, for better or worse, be the captain.
HOPEFULLY BETTER
Hopefully, it will be better this time around. Hopefully, as so many had hoped the second time around, Lara will be the father figure the team needs at this time, hopefully third time around will be lucky for him and hopefully the players, all of them, will support him as he attempts to lead the long-awaited recovery of West Indies cricket.
Remembering his promise as a leader when he was a young player, the hope is that he will fulfil that promise this time around and that win, lose or draw, West Indies cricket will be proud of him, not only as the great batsman he is, but also as the captain, the leader, he should have been and can still become.
