Brian Lara spent his first day in international retirement on Sunday fretting over the future of Test match and first class cricket.

The 37-year-old West Indies batting great made a tearful exit from the game on Saturday as his side lost an epic World Cup by just one wicket to England.

But Lara's concern now is lobbying for the preservation of Test cricket in the face of an increasingly packed one-day calendar as well as the advent of the Twenty20 World Cup to be held in South Africa in September.

"You are asking someone who likes Test cricket more than anything else," said Lara when asked for his thoughts on the growing influence of limited overs matches.

"So to go to even the shortest version of the game now and say that it is going to dominate in a few years is hard for me to say. I hope not. What I would like to see is a turnout like this for a Test match in the Caribbean."

Lara was referring to the 22,500 crowd which packed the Kensington Oval on Saturday to witness his last match.

With one or two exceptions - Ashes series and India v Pakistan encounters in particular - stadiums for Test matches are rarely full and it is that steady decline that vexes Lara.

"The Twenty20 game is around now and it is three hours, and people like that. It has brought out spectators who have actually never come to cricket before, and they love it.

"But I hope we don't lose any form of the game - we don't lose the 50-over game or Test cricket because of it."

Lara, who has played county cricket for Warwickshire and has not ruled out a return to the English game despite his 38th birthday falling on May 2, believes the longer version of the game is being devalued.

"I know the first class game has suffered - the Sheffield Shield and even here in the Caribbean. In county cricket, a lot of the international players are not playing," Lara explianed.

"If there is one thing I would like to see improve in cricket, it is the first-class level. I think that should be raised a level where it is very competitive and very attractive.

"If you look at football, international football is big. But when you talk about club football, that's on par. The coaches and managers don't want their players to play for their country because they have a big cup match or something like that.

"I would like to see county cricket or Sheffield Shield, or cricket in South Africa or the West Indies come to a level very close to Test cricket that you're going to have a wider base of players and maybe more fans coming out to support that level of the game.

"At present, that is where cricket is struggling. Our first-class level is not that great and maybe this is the end product where our Test cricket isn't very good, our one-day game isn't very good. Maybe we need to lift the standards of our one-day game."

Despite those fears, Lara has praised world champions Australia, who are bidding for a third successive World Cup title here, for constantly raising the bar when it comes to standards.

"Australia have really grabbed hold of the game, both at the Test level and one-day game. They have gone in front and set the standards.

"A lot of people have tried to get to them but haven't been able to."

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)