Lara should step down as captain, says Holding

“Lara has to step aside, not necessarily as a player, but as captain,” said Holding. “He needs to co-operate with the new captain and allow him to have a free hand to take the Windies forward.”

Lara is in his third spell as captain but his leadership came under fire when strike bowler Jerome Taylor was dropped from the team for the tame defeat against New Zealand and replaced by an extra batsman, Lendl Simmons.

After the match in Antigua, Lara became involved in an ugly public slanging-match with selector Andy Roberts over the make-up of the team with Lara insisting he can only work with the 15-man squad he was given. “Where was he when the selection meeting took place?” asked a bemused Holding. “If he can explain that, then he can talk.”

Holding, who was part of the World Cup squad in 1979 when the West Indies last won the title, added that the team has not improved under Lara’s stewardship. “Lara appears bigger than the game. I can’t even say that he is a good captain tactically,” said Holding.