Lara should dust himself off and start again: Richards
Out-of-form Brian Lara needs to dust himself off and start again, former West Indies skipper Viv Richards said on Wednesday.
And speculation that Lara's form was being affected by the presence of his girlfriend should stop because it was nobody else's business, the former Caribbean great said.
Richards is here to watch the tourists take on a Prime Minister's XI in a one-day game on Thursday.
He would not say whether Lara, who has scored 21 runs in four Test innings so far this summer but is not playing Thursday, should use the game to get some time in the middle.
"He's certainly a little bit short of runs and I'm quite certain he'll be looking at all the favourite means of trying to find form for the next (Test) match," Richards said.
Lara's atrocious form in Australia has seen him drop out of the world's top 10 batsmen for the first time since 1994.
He has plunged from first to 12th in the past six months, dropping two rungs down the ladder in the past week alone after a succession of failures.
But Richards defended Lara's current slump: "You're going to have your little ups and downs. "He'll have to fight his way back. I believe in dusting yourself off. There's nothing wrong with that if you're knocked down. Dust yourself off and hopefully come good again."
Richards bristled at questions about the presence on the tour of Lara's girlfriend and whether the world record holder was being distracted from his cricket.
"I don't think that's anyone's business on the outside to know what's right or what's wrong with that particular individual," he said.
"It is Brian's call. If the management and everyone around the management team feels good about him having his lady here, that's no one's business.
"Personally I would like to see that that's finished with because, to be honest, some of us comment a little bit too much on something that doesn't concern us."
Richards said he expected the West Indies would play the game hard against the young PM's side, skippered by Test vice-captain Adam Gilchrist.
"Certainly they do need some form to get themselves back from that disaster in Perth," he said.
The West Indies suffered two humiliating defeats at the start of the five-Test series which allowed Australia to create a world record of 12 successive Test victories.
Richards added: "When these things do happen it's nice to start afresh and with this game, there is no letting up. It's an Australian A team, there's a lot of competition and there would be places at stake to fight for.
"There is no relaxing for the West Indies. They will be at it all the time."
Mail Cricket Editor
