After his splendid showing in Trinidad & Tobago's victory over Guyana in their Carib Beer Series first-round match at Queen's Park Oval on Monday, the 38-year-old Lara responded unenthusiastically to reporters' queries about whether he would consider playing for the West Indies again.
"I've had my time. And when I called it a day, I knew that this was the time and I don't want to have any regrets at all," said Lara, who retired from international cricket in April after the West Indies' failure in the Cricket World Cup (CWC).
"I don't think you should think about that (me coming back) right now. I think it's important that I'm here to play for Trinidad & Tobago. The result today is what it's all about," added Lara, who smashed 123 and an unbeaten half-century to claim the Man-of-the-Match award as T&T whipped Guyana by nine wickets.
The popular double world record-holder said he does not miss Test cricket but was "happy getting up at 3:30 in the morning watching the guys", referring to the battle the West Indies team is currently having in their three-Test series against South Africa.
He praised the West Indies players for their performance in the current series with South Africa, although they lost the second Test in Cape Town.
The Caribbean side stunned South Africa in a 128-run victory in the first Test in Port Elizabeth for their first ever Test win on the continent and Lara believes they have done well.
"The last two Test matches they've played, they played very good cricket, fighting cricket. You have to put aside the loss.
"We're going into the last Test with the possibility of winning the series. And credit must be given to the guys over there, they've performed well, they're knitting as a unit which is good," added Lara, who turns 39 years old in May.
Already the world record holder for the highest individual score in Test cricket, 400 not out for West Indies against England in 2004, and first-class cricket, and 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in the 1994 English County Championship, Lara is also the highest aggregate scorer in the history of Test cricket at 11,953 runs.
Lara said he is willing to play regional cricket at this time but will be ready to step aside later in the season - when the international players return - to give younger players a chance to develop.
Source : http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/
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