Describing former successful West Indies captains Clive Lloyd and Sir Vivian Richards as "products" from the 1950s and 1960s era, Lara implored the current crop of cricketers to learn from the example set by the likes of Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Garfield Sobers.

Lara's advice came during an emotional feature address Wednesday night at the Barbados Cricket Association's Awards ceremony for the 2002 domestic season, which was attended by the Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago cricket teams.

Also present were Barbadian cricketing icons Sir Clyde Walcott, Sir Everton Weekes, Seymour Nurse, Charlie Griffith, David Holford and Cammie Smith.

Lara noted the living greats, despite their sterling contribution to West Indies cricket in the past, still have a role to play and he beseeched the young cricketers to befriend them.

"I must tell the present players how important your role (the past greats) has been to West Indies cricket and I want to thank you specially.

"I know that you have watched West Indies right to the top and presently at the bottom and I know for sure that you know what the answer is and I hope that you can share it with us," Lara remarked.

"And I hope that the youngsters could come forward and seek the advice necessary for us to get back to the top," added Lara, who started his first-class career for Trinidad and Tobago in 1988 at the age of 18.

"I think I would be among the last group of cricketers to understand what winning was," Lara said, but noting things went downhill in West Indies cricket because of lack of planning for the future and a laissez-faire approach.

"During that period, I personally think that not only we cricketers, but also administrators, we sort of just rested on our laurels, thinking that we are going to have Sir Garry Sobers coming around, another Viv Richards, another Clive Lloyd.

"We sat back and thought that this is just going to be chained up by just sitting back, we don't have to do anything, we don't have to build any academies, we don't have to look after our youngsters, that things are going to happen for us and we are going to continue to rule the world," Lara reasoned.

"At this point in time, Australia, England, India, all these teams that we were beating put these necessary things into place to ensure that they lift their game and come up to scratch," Lara pointed out.

"What we did as I said, nothing. What happens now, we are building from the doldrums for maybe the last seven or eight years. Without any astute thinking, that is exactly where we are going to stay," Lara charged.

"I will beg the youngsters again, I know that the youngsters my age, would have come into the game having heroes such as Sir Vivian Richards, Gordon Greenidge, some might even have Carl Hooper, Brian Lara but I want you to understand that the great Viv Richards and the great Clive Lloyd were products of the teams of the 50s and 60s.

"They were products of what happened then and they won so why can't we be the same. Why can't we be a product of the 50s and 60s?" an emotional Lara asked.

"What we need to do is to build a relationship with the guys from that era. Build a relationship with those guys who have played the game because they love the game," Lara suggested.

"It is time that we focus on what is necessary to return the West Indies to the day when we are ambassadors and widely admired in the world of cricket.

"In this new millennium, we must rediscover the pride and the courage of the earlier years. We must rediscover, not only the ability to win but also the ability to compete courageously and retain our pride in defeat," Lara remarked.