PORT-OF-SPAIN (Trinidad), July 11: West Indies great Brian Lara says he could play on after next year's Cricket World Cup for one last tour of England. “There's World Cup and then a tour to England - that's so tempting.

“I'd really love to come back over to England – it's home of cricket. The battles I've had against England have been tremendous,” he said.

“But let's take one step at a time. We've got the ICC Champions Trophy, we've got a 37-year-old body, we've got a Pakistan tour and World Cup.” England are due to host West Indies in first part of next summer, playing four Tests and three ODIs.

It was assumed Lara would retire after the World Cup, which takes place for first time in the Caribbean next March. But Test cricket's leading run-scorer is clearly enthused by performance of his young side in winning their recent home one-day series against India.They also clung on for three successive Test draws against a touring side ranked four places above them in ICC Test rankings before conceding final match.

“We had two and a half good months of cricket. India came to West Indies playing better one-day and Test cricket and we won the (one-day) series 4-1 but lost deciding Test match,” Lara said.

“Overall I'm proud of guys. They're making steps to improve. You can see them maturing and repaying selectors for their faith.

“I'm very optimistic about our future, especially in one-day game. We've got a lot of that in next six to eight months, including World Cup.

“I expect us to keep rolling on and improving.”

Lara threatened to quit as captain after final Test with India because of a row with selectors, but he played down argument and made it clear he is committed to the team.

“Who leads team is not of major importance as long as everybody puts in 100% in a positive manner.”—Agencies