Unhappy with the way the business of the national team was conducted during the 1998 West Indies regional season, the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) has given Lara until the end of July to decide on his future role with team T&T.
This is according to CEO and president of the TTCB, Alloy Lequay. ``We have written to Brian, telling him what the fixtures are for 1999 and the Red Stripe Bowl and asking about his commitment as captain of the Trinidad and Tobago team in view of his West Indies Board commitments,'' Lequay told the Express yesterday.
The West Indies have a heavy international schedule ahead, beginning in late October when the team goes off to a tournament in Bangladesh. This engagement will be followed by the five-Test tour of South Africa and the four-Test battle with Australia in the Caribbean.
Given this scenario, Lequay said Lara had some decisions to make. ``We want him to tell us what are his feelings,'' Lequay said. ``He has to tell us if he is committed. If not, we have to select a new captain. We don't want more of the leadership disruptions we had during the course of the (President's Cup) tournament. It would be unfair to the person selected at short notice to lead the team.'' The TTCB request comes as a result of the executive's study of a commissioned report submitted by manager Bryan Davis on the performance of the national team in the President's Cup.
The report has since been studied by a review committee under Richard De Souza. And, according to Lequay, ``the committee reported at the last executive meeting a month ago. We are looking now for the recommendations''.
T&T finished joint fourth in the competition with former champions Barbados. However, Lara, who was appointed WI captain in January, played in just three of the five matches.
In comments to this newspaper in April, Davis knocked the attitude of senior players on the team.
``We lack professionalism in our approach,'' he had said. Commenting on Davis's findings, Lequay also made mention of this. ``The major problems,'' he said, ``are players' attitudes, not focussed enough. For instance, when we had to play in Jamaica during the Carnival season, they were more concerned about getting back to Trinidad.''
To deal with the first problem, Lequay said the Board, ``might have to do a little more with mental preparation''.
Dealing specifically with the captain, Lequay said: ``In relation to Brian, his selection to the West Indies captaincy created a leadership void for the team because obviously he had to be thinking about his West Indies responsibilities.'' The TTCB president also recalled that Lara ``opted out of the Guyana and Barbados matches. The late decision meant that (Phil) Simmons had to take over at very short notice''.
However, Lequay also stressed that ``we understand the problem is not that he was not deliberately refusing to play. His West Indies commitments created time management problems''. But now, the TTCB wants to know exactly how much time the Windies skipper has for T&T.