Captaincy was tumultous times, support from board wasn't great: Lara

London, May 19 (UNI) Former skipper Brian Lara has accused the West Indian board of not supporting him during his stint as a captain.

''It (the captaincy) was tumultuous times. I think the most important thing about a leader, first of all he has got to be in charge of a very good team and the support also has to be great,'' Lara said in an interview with Sky TV.

''In my case, I'm not afraid to say the support from the cricket board (WICB), wasn't great,'' he rued.

Lara retired from cricket last month after his team's second round exit from World Cup at home.

He said if the future captains were to succeed they should have full backing of the baord.

''If it is anything I would maybe like to mention to them (WICB) is that, next captain -- it's Ramnaresh Sarwan at this present time -- whoever it is, I think support from the board -- and of course the people -- but I think if it stems first of all from the board and everyone knows they are behind that person in charge, then I think that is very important.'' Lara, who served as West Indies captain on three occassions, said captaining West Indies team was a tough job as players forming the team came from different countries.

''It's a tough thing, coming from so many small nations in the Caribbean. When things are going well, everyone comes together. You get love from Jamaica right down to Guyana but as soon as things are not going too good, people go back into their little territory.

That's unfortunate.'' ''They say that cricket is the only unifying force in the Caribbean. I question that sometimes. It can breed a lot of animosity which is unfortunate but that (cricket) is so significant in our lives -- we should try as much as possible to come together,'' he added.

Reflecting back, Lara admitted that one of the blemishes to an otherwise outstanding career was his lack of patience during tough periods.

''My problems most of the time stemmed from the mental side of the game,'' the southpaw said.

''A couple of those bowlers, maybe McGrath (Glenn) and Shane Warne tested those periods more where I wanted to move from being dominated to dominating and Glenn McGrath is not the sort of person you dominate very easily. ...

''Sometimes the weakness of my game is really my patience, not being able to understand the situation, hang in there a bit longer than I expected and working it out a little bit better.'' Lara finished his career as the leading run-scorer in Tests, having compiled 11 953 runs in 131 matches at an average of 52, with 34 centuries.

UNI