He said the problems in West Indies cricket was so deep-rooted, it would ``take a long time'' to get back on top.

The West Indies skipper hinted that he would suggest to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) that they use more of the former Test players as advisers and would ask for a sports psychologist to work with the team.

Claiming that the West Indies ``weren't together'' during the 3-0 thrashing in Pakistan late in 1997, Lara answered ``definitely'' to a question, at the Press conference following the fifth Test, to whether it had been the same on this tour.

``The unity needs to be much better,'' the West Indies captain said. ``You hear different things but you never believe it.

``As a team I'd prefer to have guys tight (and) together off the field and things would work better on the field,'' he added.

``Hopefully things will improve in those areas but you've got to remember we're all from different islands and slightly different backgrounds.''

Lara was unaccompanied at the Press conference and fielded questions from West Indian, South African and British journalists with articulate aplomb.

He said manager Clive Lloyd and coach Malcolm Marshall had ``tried their best'' in South Africa.

``They worked on the guys every day but, at the end of the day, you've got to go out there and back yourself as an individual,'' he said.

``You can get all the advice you want off the field but, as individuals, we were a bit weak and lacking in confidence out in the middle and that's something going into the nets does not solve.

``Maybe we need some sort of help outside of cricket that would make the guys more competitive upstairs,'' he added.

``We've got a lot of great cricketers in the West Indies, people who have travelled around the world and advised other Test-playing countries on how to improve their cricket.

``Why can't we get these heads together and see how best we can work to get back on top because it's going to take a long time.''

Lara would not be drawn on his future as captain.

``I'm a learning captain in international cricket and this is my first overseas tour,'' he said.

``As I told (South African captain) Hansie (Cronje), it's not been a pleasure, but a great learning experience coming to South Africa and I've learned a lot from him.''

He termed the captaincy ``a duty in the Caribbean''.

``It's an honour to captain the West Indies,'' he said. ``I've always given my support to any captain I've played under and I've got the support of the players here. At the end of the day ... I'm going to go out there no matter what the situation is, to try my best to ensure that West Indies cricket gets back on top.''

Lara hoped the West Indies would use the South African team of this series as a role model.