Lara not going anywhere

West Indies captain Brian Lara has said that he will not follow the lead of other cricketing legends into retirement.

Lara spoke of how he was stunned by news of the retirements of champion bowling duo Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

“I was surprised, I didn’t see it coming. Australian cricket will miss them. Shane and Glenn are as good as anyone I have played against,” he told The Sunday Telegraph

Lara indicated he may give up the shorter form of the game if it meant lengthening his Test career.

“I cut back on one-day cricket a couple of months ago because Test cricket is what I really love,” he said.

“Test cricket is the true test of your ability and that’s the one game I’d love to play a bit longer.

“I’m not sure how much one-day cricket I’ll be playing after the World Cup. Hopefully we can win it and that would be a great way to go out.

“I don’t know if I’ll get to 40 but I want to play as long as I can. My enthusiasm is still there. I know I still have some Tests ahead of me and hopefully more big innings.”

Lara, 37, made his Test debut 16 years ago against Pakistan. Since then, he has established himself as one of the greatest players to have ever picked up the bat, amassing nearly 12000 Test runs together with over 10000 runs in limited-overs cricket.