'I am very sympathetic towards the players' - Brian Lara

Former West Indies captain Brian Lara has called the recent pull-out by West Indies from the India tour should be treated as a "watershed" moment in Caribbean cricket. He said the lesson to be learned for both the WICB and the players is to "communicate" better with each other. Lara also called for the WICB and its administrators to stop wanting to be the "stars" and warned that in the absence of trust West Indies cricket would continue to be "problematic."

Admitting that he would always be "biased" towards the players considering his own battles with WICB during his playing days, Lara said the administrators could not solely blame Dwayne Bravo and his men for abandoning the India tour in October. "The fact of the matter is I am very player-biased because I've been a player in the past and I've experienced bad relationships with my cricket board. If you come and tell me the players should be blamed, hold up, I am one who understands as a player all the fractures at the board level and how it is handled, and I'm very sympathetic to the players."