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| October 21, 2005 | Friday | Ramzan 16, 1426 |
Coach tips Lara to bounce back
BRISBANE (Australia), Oct 20: West Indies coah Bennett King said he expected out-of-form batsman Brian Lara’s class to shine through in the upcoming Test series against Australia.
Lara scored only 56 runs in five innings during the recently completed Super Series, when a World XI was thrashed by Australia in three one day internationals and a Test match.
But King was hopeful Lara would get among the runs playing for his national team, rather than the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) much-criticised collection of superstars.
“Hopefully he’s saving them all up for us against Australia,” King told reporters after arriving in Australia for the three-Test series.
“I think he’s copped some pretty harsh criticism in the press and people forget what he’s done — he’s one innings away from being the class player again that we all know that he is.”
Lara holds the record for the highest Test score, 400 not out against England, and is only 315 runs behind former Australian captain Allan Border’s record of 11,174 runs scored in Test cricket.
The 36-year-old is expected to be a mainstay in a side King admits lacks experience.
“Eleven of the players are 25 and under, there’s only two that are over 30 and they’re our most experienced players,” he said.
“(But) the players to a man, they’re really dedicated and they work hard and I’ve been really happy with the progressions that have been made to date.”
The first Test of the tour starts on Nov 3 in Brisbane.
The West Indies has brought a full strength team to Australia after a sponsorship dispute resulted in a second-string side being sent to Sri Lanka last July where they lost two Tests.—AFP
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