Cricket: Lara pays for late arrival

Brian Lara has been fined by the West Indies for arriving late for last week's first Test against Sri Lanka. Lara, who had disciplinary problems at the World Cup and on the tour of Australia last year, has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee.

The West Indian players assembled in St John's last Tuesday for the Test starting on Friday, but Lara did not arrive until Wednesday night. His explanation that he missed his flight was not accepted as a satisfactory excuse by the team's management.

Lara was reprimanded by the West Indies Cricket Board after incidents at the World Cup and warned that any future acts of indiscipline would be dealt with strongly.

The fine comes just two days before the second and final Test against Sri Lanka starts in Kingstown, St Vincent.