Lara urges deprived Caribbean fans to move with times

Sydney, Mar 30 (UNI) No outside food, drinks, Calypso music, but hefty prices, has robbed the fun-loving West Indian fans of the flavour associated with watching a cricket game to such an extent that Brian Lara was forced to tell people to move with the times.

The West Indian captain admitted he was disappointed with the turn-out as less than 10,000 people attended the opening day of the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium against Australia, less than half the new ground's capacity.

''It was really disappointing,'' Lara said of the first day.

''But it is good to see the game moving on.

''When you are talking about the improvement of facilities, spectators have to adapt to it,''the Sydney Herald reported.

Banning food, drinks to be brought to the stadium, in addition to hefty ticket prices has prompted fans to snub the tournament.

The local hero asked people to move with the times after his team was stunned by its lack of World Cup support.

However, Lara empathised with the deprived fans and instead blamed the organisers for the dwindling support.

''I think the organisers have lost sight what a day of cricket is for Caribbean people. It is about taking your own food and drink and sitting with the people you want to sit with,'' he said, adding, ''but under the ticket system of the tournament, there is no guarantee you can do that.'' Australia ended up knocking off a mammoth 322 and West Indies went on to lose the match by a huge 103-run margin.

The ground was about one-quarter full when Australia surged away with the match on the reserve day.

UNI