Lara's on way home

Tony Cozier

September 26, 2002

Brian Lara flew out of Colombo yesterday morning, fit enough to endure the 11 hours flight to London on his way back to Trinidad but still unavailable for the imminent West Indies tour of India.

The star left-handed batsman was stricken during his Man-Of-The-Match 111 against Kenya during the ICC Champions Trophy match nine days ago and hospitalised with an illness still shrouded in mystery.

It was identified in an official media statement by the doctor who first examined him as suspected hepatitis, an infection of the liver. It was a public supposition that so annoyed Lara he reportedly sought legal advice.

He subsequently told team manager Ricky Skerritt to make no further statements on his condition and Skerritt has since adhered strictly to the directive.

The manager's last release on Lara's condition, on September 19, stated: Brian has been advised by medical specialists in Colombo that he will miss the West Indies immediate cricketing commitments. That will rule him out of the Indian tour and I have advised the West Indies selectors that a replacement will be needed for that tour.

It ended: Out of respect for Brian's privacy, the West Indies team manager will make no further public comment on this matter.

Only when Lara was spotted at the Chinese restaurant in the Hilton Hotel here Tuesday night was it known he had been discharged from the ultra-modern Apollo Hospital here.

Contacted yesterday morning, Skerritt confirmed that Lara had left a few hours earlier. He would make no further comment.

An initial Associated Press report out of Colombo quoted hospital sources as stating Lara had contracted hepitatis, without naming the strain, and that he would remain in hospital for two weeks to be followed by four weeks' rest.

The fact that he left hospital after a week and was well enough to undertake such a long journey indicates that his condition is not as serious as feared.

But that is only an assumption and might be construed as a breach of Lara's privacy.

© The Barbados Nation

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