St John's (Antigua), Jan 27 (IANS): Cricket West Indies (CWI) has appointed former West Indies captain and batting legend, Brian Lara, as a Performance Mentor - working across all international teams and will also contribute to the running of the West Indies Academy.
The announcement that Lara has agreed to assist CWI as a Performance Mentor - working across all international Teams and with input into the West Indies Academy -- was made on Thursday.
Lara's first assignment will be with the West Indies Test squad. He has joined the Test squad in Zimbabwe where he will assist in the team's preparations ahead of the first Test match in Bulawayo starting on February 4.
Talking about his new role, Brian Lara said, "Having spent time with the players and coaches in Australia and in discussions with CWI, I really believe that I can help the players with their mental approach to the game and with their tactics to be more successful. I'm looking forward to joining the group in Zimbabwe and the opportunity to work with other West Indies teams later in the year."
Lara's new role will be to support the various head coaches in providing players with tactical advice and improving their game sense, as well as working closely with the Director of Cricket on strategic planning for the ICC World Cup to be held in India later this year.
Jimmy Adams, CWI Director of Cricket, said, "I am really looking forward to Brian making a significant contribution to our cricket system by providing invaluable guidance and advice to our players and coaches. We are confident that Brian will help to improve our high-performance mindset and strategic culture which will bring us more success on the field across all formats. Everyone is excited to have Brian involved in supporting our players."
Lara is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. In a career spanning 17 years, the 53-year-old Trinidadian has scored 11,953 runs in 131 Test matches and 10,405 runs in 299 ODIs. He has scored 34 Test centuries and 48 half-centuries at an average of 52.88 and has a top score of 400 not out. In ODIs, Lara has scored 19 centuries and 63 fifties and has an average of 40.48.