145;I think I am going to play cricket again146;

The legendary West Indian doesn8217;t want to be out of the international game

Within two months of his hastily announced retirement, legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara has realised he did not want to lose touch with the game and is contemplating returning to the international cricket as a player.

Lara, who surprised everyone by calling it quits in the wake of his team8217;s dismal performance in the recent World Cup, could be back playing international cricket in coming months, according to the latest issue of The Wisden Cricketer.

8220;I think I am going to play cricket again. If I go six or eight months without cricket I would lose it and I don8217;t want to lose it yet,8221; Lara said.

Asked if he meant playing for celebrity team Lashings, he replied 8220;No, no8221;, leaving county cricket or the proposed new Indian breakaway twenty20 league as intriguing possibilities. Lara expected and hoped to be playing Test cricket in England this summer, but claimed he left West Indies cricket on his own terms.

8220;We needed a new direction, someone who was willing to see some sort of change. I was willing to do that. I wanted to come to England but I had also said I wanted to finish with one-dayers. It8217;s not ideal but then how many things in life are?8221;

Asked if he felt fulfilled, Lara said: 8220;I8217;ve done what I could do, so I8217;m happy with me. As a team, we8217;ve not been able to climb out of the doldrums so that will remain on my mind. That does not rest well with me. I leave West Indies cricket with my head held high.

8220;I8217;ve tried my best and I8217;ve worked my arse off. Maybe I could have done things differently but I8217;ve done things my way 8212; that8217;s the most important thing,8221; he said.

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Despite the second innings heroics at Old Trafford, the decline in West Indies cricket has been laid bare so far this summer.

Lara insisted that West Indies8217; problems run very deep. 8220;It8217;s that we don8217;t have a good infrastructure for young guys to develop. The West Indies have a great under-15 side. I know a 16-year-old guy in Trinidad who8217;s awesome but I worry for him because of the facilities.

8220;A mediocre Australian cricketer at 17 to 18 will be slapping everyone all over the world five years later. If you don8217;t have facilities and you don8217;t have employment then you have a negative atmosphere,8221; he added.