New Delhi: Sympathising with the West Indies players for their India tour pull-out after a fallout with the WICB, Caribbean legend Brian Lara said that communication between the players' and the board is key and its time to stop making internal issues a public matter.
"Players in India playing cricket without a contract (wondered), 'how do I know that you're looking after my interests'. Yes, you may make decisions that hurt a situation as we're seeing now, leaving India might not have been a good idea in terms of even guys' personal careers.
"But we've got to stop airing our laundry in public, and we have to try to handle issues. I believe the only way that can be done is if we really use this moment as a watershed and try as much as possible to engage," Lara told ESPNcricinfo.
The Dwayne Bravo-led West Indies pulled out of the India series midway in October after a pay dispute with its board, leaving the BCCI fuming as 1 ODI one-off T20 and 3 Tests were left to be played.
Suffering heavy losses, the BCCI forwarded a bill of Rupees 250 crore to its West Indies counterpart but the Caribbean greats including Lara are keen that first the internal dispute should be handled in order to set the house right.
"Any issues like that could be handled a lot better, but I believe the key component, which avoids situations like that, which settles situations like that amicably is communication,' said Lara.
"And the West Indies Cricket Board and the players and all its people, communication is one thing that's really lacking in West Indies cricket. Things are allowed to spiral out of control, and then there's the trust issue - 'why would I trust in this critical moment'," the former skipper added.
Having a host of records in his 17-year-long career with 131 Tests and 299 ODIs, Lara admits that his allegiance will always be with the players than the board.
"The fact of the matter is I am very player-biased because I've been a player in the past and I've experienced bad relationships with my cricket board. If you come and tell me the players should be blamed, hold up, I am one who understands as a player all the fractures at the board level and how it is handled, and I'm very sympathetic to the players.
