'This is not Mickey Mouse' - Brian Lara lashes out at IPL influence

Former West Indies legend Brian Lara has made a strong remark surrounding the dissipating interest in the red-ball format in the Caribbean. Lara has blamed the various T20 franchise leagues for the decline of West Indies in Test cricket and wants the cricket board to teach the youngsters about the importance of representing their part of the world on the global stage.

He highlighted that franchise cricket like IPL, BBL, SA20, etc has made it extremely tough to hold on to young promising talents who are lured away by the lucrative deals from different franchises, not prioritizing national ambitions. 

Lara said it will be impossible for the cricket board to hold on to the current crops but he has a suggestion to revitalize the cricket in West Indies. He opined that the board should make efforts at the grassroots, getting into schools and age-group cricket before getting them ready for the international stage. 

Brian Lara expresses his ambitions for the upcoming Australia Test series

West Indies will field a relatively new and inexperienced Test side as they gear up to lock horns against heavyweights Australia. The AUS vs WI 1st Test begins on Wednesday in Adelaide and Lara wants his team to put on a fight and at least take the match to Day 5.

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Echoing on the same lines, the former great said, “No (I’m not sure what they will offer), but I know what I want, I want to see some fight. I want to see the talent come to. There’s a lot of talent. There’s always been a lot of talent, but this is a big stage."

Lara added, “This is not Mickey Mouse, this is the real deal and Australia are not going to give any quotas."

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