Lara will have to fight his way back, says Richards

He would not say whether Lara, who has scored 21 runs in four Test innings so far this summer but is not playing tomorrow, should use the game to get some time in the middle. ‘‘He’s certainly a little bit short of runs and I’m quite certain he’ll be looking at all the favourite means of trying to find form for the next (Test) match,’’ Richards said.

Lara’s atrocious form in Australia has seen him drop out of the world’s top 10 batsmen for the first time since 1994.

He has plunged from first to 12th in the past six months, dropping two rungs down the ladder in the past week alone after a succession of failures.

But Richards defended Lara’s current slump: ‘‘You’re going to have your little ups and downs,’’ he said.

‘‘He’ll have to fight his way back. I believe in dusting yourself off. There’s nothing wrong with that if you’re knocked down. ‘‘Dust yourself off and hopefully come good again.’’

Richards bristled at questions about the presence on the tour of Lara’s girlfriend and whether the world record holder was being distracted from his cricket. ‘‘I don’t think that’s anyone’s business on the outside to know what’s rightor what’s wrong with that particularindividual,’’ he said.

‘‘It is Brian’s call. If the management and everyone around the management team feels good about him having his lady here, that’s no one’s business.

‘‘Personally I would like to see that that’s finished with because, to be honest, some of us comment a little bit too much on something that doesn’t concern us.’’Richards said he expected the West Indies would play the game hard against the young PM’s side, skippered by Test vice-captain Adam Gilchrist.

‘‘Certainly they do need some form to get themselves back from that disaster in Perth,’’ he said.

‘‘When these things do happen it’s nice to start afresh and this game, there is no letting up. It’s an Australian ‘A’ team, there’s a lot of competition and there would be places at stake to fight for.

‘‘There is no relaxing for the West Indies. They will beat it all the time.’’ Gilchrist gets ready for the big task: THE demands of wicket-keeping should not preclude those behind the stumps from being considered as Test skippers, Australian vice-captain Adam Gilchrist said on Wednesday.

The outstanding wicket-keeper/batsman is to lead the Prime Minister’s XI against the West Indies here on Thursday, although he will not don the gloves for the game. However, as the man expected to take over from the injured Steve Waugh as stand-in Australia capain for the third Adelaide Test starting on December 15, he said the busy task ahead of him was one a wicket-keeper could handle.‘‘I’m sure it’s possible,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a big task for anyone to captain the Test team. It’s a terrific job and there’s a terrific amount of responsibility to go with it.‘‘Keepers traditionally haven’t been tried. I’d Like to think that whether you’re a keeper or a bowler or batsman or an all-rounder, you’re never going to be pigeon-holed because of past traditions.

‘‘I just think that if people think you’re the right man for the job, give your go and see what happens.’’

Gilchrist said he did not see the PM match as a captaincy trial for the third Test.‘‘I’ve been asked to captain the team in this one-off games so I’ll go out and enjoy it and gain a bit from the experience,’’ he said. ‘‘This was selected long before Steve Waugh was injured.

‘‘I’m looking forward to it as a great opportunity to learn about captaincy and have a bit of fun,’’ he added.

Gilchrist, who will captain a side largely untried on the international scene, said his players were in form.

‘‘We’ve got a form side a lot of wickets amongst the bowlers and runs amongst the batsmen.‘‘