Lara calls on West Indies to improve work-rate

Brian Lara, the West Indies captain, believes his side must work harder as they struggle to salvage some pride from the Test series against South Africa.

Speaking after the drawn third Test at Newlands this week, Lara expressed a mixture of frustration and hope as he analysed his team's performance so far. South Africa lead the series 2-0 with one match to go in Centurion next week.

"The fielding and bowling both need to improve , they support each other," Lara said. "The 50 or 60 runs that bad bowling and fielding can cost are critical in a test match."

Aside from his own form - Lara became the fastest batsman to reach 9,000 runs in a Test career while scoring 115 in the Third Test at Newlands here - the captain is encouraged by some of the performances from his young side. While praising Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Chris Gayle, who have all scored centuries during the tour, Lara criticised others for not sticking with those players when they got in.

"We are putting together lots of partnerships of 50 or 60, which means both players are set and should go on," he said. "In the end, if we had any dependable batsmen still waiting to bat, we could have won [at Newlands]."

He added: "These youngsters are very talented. They need to learn to apply themselves at the highest level for long periods in order to fulfil their potential."

The West Indies have a game against provincial team Easterns before the final Test. Speaking of his own performance, Lara, who also scored a double century in the first Test in Johannesburg, said: "I want to stretch my career total way past 9,000 runs." He also believes that experience has turned him into a better player. "I battled for my runs," he said of his century in the third Test. "In the old days, I might have tried to hit my way out of the quiet periods I experienced. But I have grown a lot."