Lara tries to dampen Roberts row

There have been many critics of Lara in his three captaincy spells

West Indies captain Brian Lara wants to draw a line under a difference of opinion with selector Andy Roberts.

The former Windies paceman was critical of the omission of Jerome Taylor for the game against New Zealand and said: "I can't find words to describe it."

Lara's initial response was: "All I can say is I did not select the squad."

He later added: "Reacting in public is something I need to apologise for but if we really want to do well we must have constructive criticism in-house."

Lara admitted that having the team's problems were discussed in the very prominent medium of a news conference was far from ideal.

"I was caught by surprise in a press conference and I was very, very surprised and shocked that things like that need to be spoken about in public.

"If things like that are going to be out every single time you have a bad performance it's not going to be healthy for our cricket at all."

Everyone knows he's a great batsman but that's not what it takes to lead a team Michael Holding

Another legendary West Indian paceman, meanwhile, has joined in by criticising Lara's captaincy.

"Lara has to step aside, not necessarily as a player, but as captain," Michael Holding said.

"We haven't seen an improvement when he has taken over the captaincy. Everyone knows he's a great batsman but that's not what it takes to lead a team. I can't even say he is a good captain tactically."