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Chairman of selectors Michael Findlay has strongly defended the inclusion of Brian Lara in the West Indies team for the forthcoming tour of Sri Lanka in spite of a lingering hamstring injury.

He said yesterday he and other members of the panel would not stand condemned for failing to give one of the best batsmen in the Caribbean and one of the best in the world every assistance we could in sorting out his problems, whether they are mental or physical.

What appears to some people as us leaning on the side of Brian Lara is not that at all, he added.

Brian still has a future in West Indies cricket and can make a significant contribution to West Indies cricket, Findlay said on Starcom Network radio here.

We, as selectors, therefore felt we had to explore all the possibilities for his participation (in the tour), he explained.

We're not bending over backwards for him. If he had certain concerns, we tried to work them out.

Lara was picked in the 16 for the tour that starts in November in spite of a hamstring problem that has bothered him since June, 2000, on the tour of England and that caused him to abandon the tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya last June.

Team manager Ricky Skerritt acknowledged on Monday that Lara was not 100 per cent fit but, following extensive tests over four days, said his fitness level seems to be adequate for his particular requirements on tour.

© The Barbados Nation