LONDON, Aug 1: Former great West Indies batsman Viv Richards has criticised the team's current captain Brian Lara for failing to motivate his players during the Test series against England.

"Brian Lara must take a long, hard look at himself," former West Indies captain Richards told the BBC on Sunday. "The side are now in a bad way and, if you have a leader who cannot motivate, you have problems.

"These guys are not focused enough. We've seen some brilliance here and there but success for an hour or two isn't going to win you any Test matches." Richards, who resigned as West Indies' chairman of selectors in June, added that Lara's team lacked mental discipline.

"I believe these guys are not good thinkers. They need to be a little bit more focused," he said. "We have all identified the ability factor. But if you don't think, that ability is null and void," added Richards, who scored 8,540 runs in 121 Tests, the second-highest aggregate by a West Indian after Lara.

West Indies, struggling in eighth position in the ICC championship table after dominating world cricket in the 1980s, have lost 11 of their last 21 Tests. The team's only victory in their last 11 Tests came against lowly Bangladesh in Kingston in June.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Tino Best has been ruled out of the rest of the tour of England with a back problem and will be replaced by Dave Mohammed, West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said on Sunday.

Best suffered the stress reaction injury in the first Test defeat at Lord's and was left out of the starting line-up for the second Test at Edgbaston. He flew home on Sunday.

"This condition was revealed after Best started feeling pain on tour but as it is not a stress fracture, he should not be out for very long," a WICB statement read. Mohammed, a slow left armer, has one cap and will arrive in England on Monday. The third Test starts at Old Trafford, Manchester on Aug 12. -Reuters