Brian Lara has announced that he will retire from one-day cricket at the end of the World Cup. The West Indies captain has presided over a disappointing tournament for the hosts and yesterday's 67-run defeat against South Africa ended their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Lara will continue to play in Test matches, but, at the age of 37, wants to hand over the one-day baton. "I think this is the end of my one-day career, for sure," he said. "I honestly feel my game is over and we should give it to one of the younger players. It's really tough playing one-day internationals out there. After the World Cup the next one-day tournament for the West Indies is in June in England and I'd love to sit back and watch and see the team do well."
Lara made his one-day debut in 1990 against Pakistan in Karachi, lining up in a West Indian team alongside Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson, Gus Logie and Malcolm Marshall. His record, as you would expect from one of the world's greatest ever batsman, is hugely impressive. In 297 matches he has a batting average of more than 40, has scored 19 centuries and 63 fifties. His highest score came in a Champions Trophy match in 1995 when he plundered 169 in just 129 deliveries against Sri Lanka.
He led West Indies to a surprise Champions Trophy success in England in 2004 and took them to the final of the same competition in India last year. But they have failed to meet expectations in their World Cup campaign, although Lara still wants to sign off on a high. West Indies have matches left against Bangladesh and England.
"I want to leave a team that plays better. And that is still my hope," he said. "These might be my last two one-day internationals but I still want to see the team moving out of this competition learning something from it and that's all I can hope for. I want to see certain things happen and I want to see the team move on."