Cricket: Lara hit 400 with broken finger

1.00pm - By STEPHEN BRENKLEY

ANTIGUA - Brian Lara, the newly re-crowned test batting record holder, may be out of the one-day series against England.

He will certainly miss the first of the seven matches in Guyana on Sunday and will struggle to play in the second and third on successive days in Trinidad the following weekend.

An orthopaedic surgeon advised Lara yesterday to rest from competitive cricket for at least 10 days to give the broken little finger on his right hand the chance to heal. Lara sustained the injury in dropping a slip catch in the first test in Jamaica and has been in severe discomfort since.

It makes his epic innings in St John's when he reclaimed the record for the highest test innings by becoming the first man to score 400 even more remarkable.

On the last day of the test he was in such pain that he went to hospital during the morning session.

Questions have been regularly posed about the quality of Lara's captaincy, but the side will be much the poorer without him.

They are likely to be led by Ramnaresh Sarwan, an attractive but indisciplined batsman.

After the draw in Antigua, Lara made it clear that he wants to stay on as captain. "As a captain and senior player and looking at the composition of the team, I honestly believe I have a lot to offer as a leader," he said.

"It's up to the others to decide the captaincy but I'm willing to serve the West Indies in whatever capacity and hang on in there to do what's necessary to get us back to the top."

- INDEPENDENT