Lara might have been sacked

Lara might have been sacked
Agence France Presse

KINGSTON (JAMAICA), FEBRUARY 26: Brian Lara might have resigned from the post of West Indies cricket captain because he might have known that he was going to be relieved of the job.

The Jamaica Observer newspaper reported that the gifted left-hander's move could have been as a result of information that he, like Sir Vivian Richards, coach on the ill-starred tour of New Zealand, would have been sacked from his position.

To the average by-stander, Lara's timing may be viewed as a reaction to the recent naming of the West Indies management team comprising Roger Harper as coach, Jeffrey Dujon as assistant coach, with interim coach Richards being overlooked, the Observed reported.

The newspaper added, in light of Sir Viv's fate, and remembering that Lara spoke highly of the master blaster' as coach during the recent ill-fated tour of New Zealand, sources said Lara got wind of the plans to give him the boot.

Lara resigned from the post of West Indies captain on Thursday. He became the third international captain this month and second this week to resign, following Pakistan's Wasim Akram and India's Sachin Tendulkar.

Lara had conveyed his decision to resign to Alloy Lequay, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board on Tuesday.

Alloy Lequay, the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board, revealed, however, Lara resigned as captain from the West Indies team because of too much pressure on him to be the leader and the best performer.

``I think the whole situation with Lara's captaincy over the past two years has really been one of too much pressure on him,'' Lequay said on Friday.

``He was not only called to lead, but he had to perform with a team that is sub-standard and the pressures and the expectations on him were just too much for him to bear and he did not have that kind of resilience. In fact, if Lara batted well, the team won and when he did not do well, the team lost. It is this kind of pressure that he was under,'' Lequay said.

Lequay said Lara, whom he met on Tuesday during a reception for Britain's Prince Charles, had confided to him that he was considering resigning as captain of the team and he tried to persuade him not to throw in the hat at this time.

``His resignation really caught me by surprise because I thought he would have done this maybe after the England tour in June. I didn't think for a minute that he was considering resigning this week,'' Lequay said.