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Lara vows to step down if Windies lose
Brian Lara vowed to step down as West Indies captain if his team did not beat Bangladesh in the second and final cricket Test.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:06 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Kingston, Jamaica:
Brian Lara vowed to step down as West Indies captain if his team did not beat Bangladesh in the second and final cricket Test starting at Sabina Park later in the day. "If we don't win then I don't think I'm going to lead the team to England," Lara told reporters at a news conference yesterday. The first Test at St Lucia this week ended in a draw in which Bangladesh dominated. Lara is in his second stint as skipper of the Caribbean side. He has two wins, six draws and nine losses in 17 Tests since taking over again a year ago against the touring Australians. His overall record, which includes his inaugural captaincy stint from 1998 to 2000, reads 35 played, nine won, seven drawn, and 19 lost. Lara is confident the Sabina Park pitch will better suit his fast bowlers and get him the win he demands. Embarrassing match The West Indies' last Test at the venue proved an embarrassment for the home side as it slumped to a Test-low 47 all out against England en route to a nine-wicket defeat in March. Then, the surface was fast and bouncy and the England and West Indies pacers ruled. Lara, though, warned that it wasn't a case of his young bowlers just turning up to get the desired result. "I hope what they don't do is think because it's quick and bouncy, that we need to intimidate the Bangladeshi batsmen," Lara said. "We are going to get the bounce and the pace out of it. We just need to bowl the right line and length." Lara said that his four-pronged pace attack of Fidel Edwards, Tino Best, Pedro Collins and Jermaine Lawson would not be pushed during nets. "We had five hard days in St Lucia, the fast bowlers especially. I'd really like them to take it easy on their legs," he said. The West Indies have recalled offspinning allrounder Omari Banks into the squad to give it more options. Bangladesh is set to field an unchanged XI and reward its players for their impressive performances in the opening drawn match. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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