Lara, Sarwan to work with West Indies batsmen before India Tests

The legendary Brian Lara and Ramnaresh Sarwan will work with West Indies batsmen ahead of the first of the two Test matches against India. Lara, one of the greatest batsmen of all-time, and Sarwan, who was one the leading players of his generation from the Caribbean, will be part of the pre-series camp, to be held in Antigua ahead of the first Test match against India.

The two will share their immense knowledge, experience and expertise with the 13-member squad. West Indies and India will play two Tests – from August 22 to 26 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in North Sound, Antigua; and from August 30 to September 3 at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.

Jimmy Adams, Cricket West Indies' (CWI) Director of Cricket, was grateful to Lara and Sarwan for coming on board and offering their time to interact with the young batsmen as they get ready for the series, which signals the start of the new ICC World Test Championship for both teams. "We have some good young batsmen in the team who we believe will form the future of West Indies cricket. We saw some very good signs of development earlier this year in the Test matches when we played so very well to beat England and we want to see them grow and become outstanding players for the West Indies," Adams said in a statement issued by Windies .

"We have taken the step to have Brian and 'Ronnie' work with these players, who have demonstrated a will to learn and succeed. We know they still have the passion and love for West Indies cricket and are eager to assist and share their information with the present generation." Lara, 50, is the leading scorer for West Indies with 11,953 runs in 131 Test matches. His mammoth 400 not out against England in Antigua in 2004 remains the only occasion a batsman has reached a quadruple century in Test history.

Lara also holds the record for the highest first-class score of all time – 501 not out for Warwickshire in the English Country Championship.