Windies support lacklustre Lara

British audiences have seen little of Lara at the crease

West Indies have backed Brian Lara ahead of their summer Test series against England, despite his current lack of form.

The left-hander entered West Indies' second innings against Glamorgan at Sofia Gardens with just two runs from three innings since his arrival in England a week ago - and only 16 minutes at the crease.

During that period he has also lost his spot as the top-rated batsman in the world to Sachin Tendulkar and doubts have been raised about his commitment to restore his damaged reputation.

A Brian Lara out of nick is better than a lot of guys in nick

Tour manager Ricky Skerritt

But after being dismissed for 11, Lara marched purposefully to the nets for an hour-long session to dispel any question marks over his determination to succeed.

Tour manager Ricky Skerritt said: "He's not in perfectly good nick, but Brian will be okay - a Brian Lara out of nick is better than a lot of guys in nick.

"He went straight over to the nets after he was out and stayed over there for about an hour.

"He's very unhappy and very disappointed that he didn't get a good score, he really wanted to get a big score here.

"His frame of mind is good, it's very positive, he feels good about himself and all he needs now is spending time out in the middle."

This time, at least, Lara progressed into double figures and lasted 42 minutes - taking his total time at the crease to 58 minutes in the four innings since the start of the tour.

I'm not into talking about umpiring decisions, but it was unfortunate the way Brian got out.

West Indies coach Roger Harper

Arriving at the crease with the West Indies struggling at 4-2, Lara immediately got into his stride with a boundary off his first delivery.

His lack of match practice showed two overs later, however, when he played and missed outside off-stump to seamer Owen Parkin.

Alex Wharf also had Lara fishing nervously outside off-stump, but it took a contentious leg-before decision off spinner Robert Croft to finally end his innings.

Team coach Roger Harper said: "I'm not into talking about umpiring decisions, but it was unfortunate the way Brian got out.

"He was looking forward to spending time out in the middle and getting back to top form."