BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) – West Indies captain Brian Lara announced yesterday he will retire from all forms of international cricket on Saturday, surprising many who had expected the flamboyant batsman’s Test career to carry on.

The West Indies captain, the game’s all-time leading Test run-scorer who holds the world record score of 400 in Test cricket and 501 in the first-class game, was initially expected to quit only one-day cricket after his team’s final World Cup game against England at Kensington Oval.

Lara faced a barrage of questions about his future at a post-match news conference after West Indies’ 99-run victory over Bangladesh and finally caved in. He revealed he had already advised West Indies cricket administrators about his decision to call it a day after 17 years of playing international sport.

“If this is the last question, then I’ll just say that I want everyone to know that on Saturday I’m going to be bidding farewell to all international cricket as a player. I’ve already spoken to the (West Indies Cricket) board about it and I’d just like to thank everyone,” Lara told the surprised reporters. He immediately left the room and made no further comment.

Lara, who will turn 38 next month, hinted that Ramnaresh Sarwan should be the next captain. “He’s matured. He’s been vice-captain for some time. It’s important that whoever gets the job, he gets whole-hearted support,” he said, alluding to rifts in West Indies cricket.

“What you see on the surface isn’t everything.”

Lara’s last one-day international will be his 299th. He said he had hoped his 300th would be the semi-final, “but it didn’t happen. So be it”.

“I hold West Indies cricket close to my heart. I’ve spent 17 years playing. It’s been testimony that I’ve been out there working very hard, toiling for West Indies cricket. I’ve enjoyed every single day I’ve played. It’s been a very good run, but at some point it has to come to an end,” the Trinidadian left-hander said.

Lara hinted he wanted to carry on working with West Indies cricket. “I won’t be hibernating once my playing days are over,” he said. “I’m a student of the game. I’ve read a lot and I know the history of West Indies cricket and I know what it means to the people.”

One of 11 children, Lara made his Test debut in 1990, scoring his first century against Australia in 1993, when he scored an impressive 277.

In 1994, he broke Sir Garfield Sobers’ 36-year-old world Test record of 365, scoring 375 against England in Antigua.

Seven weeks later he followed that with an astonishing innings of 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in English county cricket, the highest first-class score.

After losing his world Test record to Australia’s Matthew Hayden in 2003, Lara replied six months later by reclaiming the record with 400. Again the venue was Antigua, again the victims were England.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, the left-handed batsman, whose high backlift and axe-like shots made his style unique, said: “As someone who tried to entertain. This is a sport where people pay to come through the turnstiles to be entertained. I’d like people to leave the ground and say they enjoyed watching Brian Lara play and they enjoyed watching the West Indies play.”

The West Indies were eliminated on Tuesday when South Africa took the last semi-final spot. Lara said tomorrow’s match was important for the West Indies because the team leaves on a tour of England in mid-May.

Sarwan, described by a reporter in the news conference as “captain-in-waiting”, said, “it’s important that we draw first blood. It would be wonderful to win on Saturday”.

Sarwan, speaking before Lara announced his retirement, paid tribute to his captain and his mental strength, saying pressure from the Caribbean people on the West Indies captain was intense.

Lara, who has captained the West Indies three times, has scored 11,953 runs in 131 Tests and 10,387 runs in 298 one-day internationals.