Weekes backs Lara as skipper

Everton Weekes, the legendary West Indian batsman, believes Brian Lara should be reinstated as Windies skipper despite his two lean spells in charge.

"I would think that Brian Lara would be the one to captain the side at this stage with his experience and so on," Weekes told the Trinidad Express. "Frank Worrell was captain of the side when he was 36, 37 or even older and he is still accepted in the view of many as the best West Indies captain we've ever had.

"And Brian Lara can do that chore I believe. He's an intelligent player, he's an intelligent person, and if I were the selectors, I would offer him the job. You've got be a thinking player to perform like he does."

Lara, 36, was West Indies captain twice before but was replaced as skipper earlier this year by Shivnarine Chanderpaul who has so far won one Test match and lost seven in 11 games. Lara has also fallen foul of the West Indies authorities in 2005 after sitting out last July's tour to Sri Lanka as well as the first Test in South Africa in March after a row over sponsorship.

Lara, who is the top run-maker in Test history with an aggregate of 11,187 runs at an average of 54.04, has hinted that he wants to play in the 2007 World Cup before he calls it a day.