Cricket: Lara predicts tough task for Sammy

HAMILTON (CMC):

Legendary batsman Brian Lara says new West Indies skipper, Darren Sammy, will face a tough examination when he takes over from Chris Gayle on their three-Test tour of Sri Lanka next month.

Jamaican Gayle was removed as captain earlier this week and replaced by 26-year-old St Lucian Sammy, who has played only eight Tests, in a bid to revitalise the struggling team.

Lara, 41, a former West Indies skipper who came to Bermuda to play in Monday's PGA Grand Slam of Golf pro-am tournament and also pass on cricket tips to the island's national team, believes Sammy has an uphill fight ahead.

"It's a very big job but I know Sammy's a very committed individual," Lara told reporters.

"I also know the West Indies captaincy is a different story and a very tough job. You need to be a leader on and off the pitch. He's certainly going to be tested in that position.

"It's not an easy role and I've seen the likes of Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Courtney Walsh and Jimmy Adams dothe job and not all of them have been successful."

Lara says he is unsure whether Sammy is the right man for the captaincy and believes there is an absence of leaders in West Indies cricket, both on and off the field.

"It's hard for me to say (about Sammy) because I've not been around for three years and I don't know what the chemistry is like in the squad," he said.

"A chemistry of a team is very important. You can have guys who are not top performers being great leaders. You can have guys who are top performers who are bad leaders, so it's hard for me to say from the outside.

"I just hope we start to move in the right direction. We've been sliding in the wrong direction for more than a decade. I'd love to see us turn the corner but, at the moment, I don't see any leaders.

"Our problems are deep-rooted and not just out on the cricket field. Administratively, things are not going well and I don't think there's any plan in place for us to dig ourselves out of the hole we're in."