Brian spotted blonde Lynnsey's picture as he read the newspaper in the back of a cab on the West Indies tour of England earlier this year.

Lynnsey Ward became cricket hero Brian Lara's girlfriend after a taxi driver turned matchmaker.

This Newspaper can reveal that Lara told the driver: "She is absolutely gorgeous!" And Lara's luck was in - because Lynnsey, 18, was one of the cabbie's regular fares. The driver set up a meeting, and now the pair are cricket's hottest item.

Speaking for the first time about their romance from their luxury hotel in Australia - where the West Indies team is touring - Lynnsey said: "We're very happy together. I've only ever had one boyfriend before and I'm so lucky to have found Brian.

"We met because he saw me in the paper."

But Lynnsey lashed out at critics who have blamed her presence on the tour for disharmony in the West Indies' ranks - and record-breaking batsman Lara's dramatic slump in form. West Indies Squad insiders say it is unfair that she is the only player's girlfriend allowed to stay in the team hotel.

But Lynnsey said: "It has been very upsetting. Our relationship has nothing to do with cricket.

"It's a personal thing between the two of us and it's nothing to do with anyone else."

Lynnsey was a £10,000-a-year receptionist at Durham Cricket Club's Riverside ground in Chester-le-Street when she won The Star Newspaper's Millennium Babe competition and rocketed to stardom as one of Britain's hottest models.

And Lara, 31, was playing for the West Indies in Durham when her photo caught his eye. Her mum, Claire, said: "Brian was in a taxi and reading the paper, which happened to have a picture of Lynnsey.

"He remarked 'She is absolutely gorgeous!' And to Brian's surprise the cabbie said he knew her because she was a regular customer.

"The driver arranged an introduction and that's how they got together - by sheer chance." Claire, who lives near Chester-le-Street, added: "They seem to get on very well together - who knows where it might lead."

And Lynnsey's mum Claire - at 33 just two years older than the star batsman - said: "It was love at first sight. They're really happy together."

It's the latest chapter in the blonde bombshell's remarkable story.

Just over a year ago she earned £10,000 a year as a lowly receptionist.

But beating more than 1,000 other hopefuls to win the STAR newspaper annual Search for a Babe contest has put her on the road to fame and fortune.

Within weeks the 5ft 10in beauty was snapped up by top model agency Premier.

She was soon appearing on the covers of top magazines and became the face and body of Debenhams lingerie.

A close pal said: "Good luck to her. It's what she always wanted.

"She's always dreamed of being famous and having a rich, successful, boyfriend. Now it appears she's struck gold."

Lynnsey - previously linked with Formula 1 playboy Eddie Irvine and EastEnders' star Michael Greco - flew out to Australia to join Lara earlier this month.

She plans to stay until the middle of next month.

Her presence in the team hotel raised eyebrows as girlfriends and wives are normally banned. But team bosses gave her the go-ahead, hoping she would help the out-of-sorts cricketer - recently hit by match-rigging claims - to get back to his best.

A team insider said: "Brian's been under a tremendous amount of pressure and it was taking its toll on him. He's normally a cheerful happy soul, but recently he'd been very depressed with his form and all the other problems he's been facing.

"So the managers made a decision to let her accompany him on the tour.

"It's certainly done the trick because he's been much more cheerful since her arrival. Now we're hoping his new frame of mind will help him rediscover his batting form."

But so far even Lynnsey's ample charms have been unable to help.

He first bowled his maiden over when the West Indies played in Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, where she worked.

Mum Claire added: "They fell for each other straight away. They enjoyed a couple of dates and have been together ever since."

This newspaper can exclusively reveal today that following Lara's third consecutive dismissal to Australian fast bowler Glen McGrath in the second test in Perth, that Lara is seriously considering the eye operation which could place him on the sidelines for upwards of three months.

"Brian has decided that he has finally to give in and have a check on his eyes, this has become worse in the Australian conditions and led to a lot of problems for him in the sunny Australian conditions, in England it was not so bad, as the weather was kinder," a close source to Lara told this newspaper. "He called home and basically has stated he is having some problems with his eyes and with being able to catch the flight of the ball and in the heat and on the pacy wickets, it means that his first movement is not so good " "And as he is coming to the crease so early when the ball is hard and the pitch is quick, it is giving him problem, Brian has realized that it is no conscience that his run of low scores have come along since his problems began with his eyes being red, just over two years ago,"he added.

Lara, has already held discussions with surgeons in Miami, where there are specialist eye treatments in place that can remedy his condition and after his run of low scores, 0 and 4 in first test, and 0 in second test, he wants to have the operation sooner than later.

"There was some consideration after England, but Brian felt that he needed to be with the West Indies team in Australia and so he was waiting it out and hopeful that he would be able to adjust, there is something special for Lara to be able to play against Australia,"he noted.

Lara has apparently stated that he is upset at his low scores and believes that he has many more years of cricket in him, and that he should make the sacrifice as soon as possible," The doctors in Miami have told Brian, that the sooner he does the operation the better he will have an opportunity for a full recovery, rather than to wait for too much longer." "There is of course, one problem, in that if Lara proceeds with the operation, then it will mean that he will most probably miss the West Indies home series against South Africa and several of the sponsors for the series may not appreciate this, so the West Indies Cricket Board are going to have to examine some compromise,"

"It seems that they want Brian to wait until after South Africa, but Brian wants to return to his best sight and does not want to endure the problems with the eyes which are being heighten in the hot Australian climate,"

This Newspaper understands that as part of the WICB proposal to Lara is that thy will foot the bill for Lara's operation so long as they can get a guarantee from the star batsman that he will remain in West Indies cricket for at least another 3 to 5 years.

"The WICB would if Lara finally has to have the eye operation require that he visits their specialists in New York to confirm the extent of the damage and to give their recommendations as well,"

During the West Indies tour of England, West Indies physio Ronal Rogers stated," That the problem is that one day Brian's eyes are okay and the next day because of the sunshine they become red and inflamed and this is discomforting for anyone and will affect his performance. That is why a lot of the time he wears glasses to protect him from the sunlight when he is in the field."

Lara is also very concerned about " the report that was made on him and the fact that he still has this cloud hanging over him, he feels a lot like everyone is persecuting him, and now this latest situation with the young model from England has not helped the situation," "The more Brian continues to fail with the bat, the greater will be the odds on him having the operation in early 2001 and him missing South Africa's tour of the West Indies, He has a lot of pride in his performance and he will not want to have to face the South African pace bowlers with increasing eye problems,"

"Brian has admitted that for a batsman at this level, eyesight is a key both in footwork and in stroke selection and he is finding it harder and harder to do both against the really quick bowlers,"said the close family source.

For years we have been hearing about moral victories and at last we saw one. This is not intended as an excuse for the fact that we said before the First Citizens Bank Champion stakes that Infallibility would beat New Millennium. The surprising revelation, which came to us on this December afternoon, was that a thing might be done well enough to make victory entirely secondary. We have all heard of course, of sport for sport's sake but Infallibility established a still more glamorous ideal. Sport for art's sake was what he showed us in the large expansive Santa Rosa Park racecourse.

It was the finest tragic performance in the lives of three thousand persons. We hope that educators present sent their classes on dramatic composition. None of the crowds who will travel to Greece for the next Olympics and witness of more beautiful stadia while in search of Euripdes ever saw the spirit of tragedy more truly presented. And we will wager that Eurpides was not able to lift his crowd up upon its hind legs into a concerted shout of "Medea! Medea! Medea!" as Infallibility moved the racing fans in the tumultuous home straight battle with New Millennium for over 300 metres of tension and anxiety.

In fact it is our contention that the fight between these two great horses was the most inspiring spectacle which Trinidad and Tobago has seen in a generation.

Personally we would go further back than that. We would not accept a ticket for David and Goliath as a substitute. We remember that in that instance the little man won, but it was a spectacle less fine in artistry from the fact that it was less true to life. The tradition that Jack goes up the beanstalk and kills his giant, and that Little Red Ridinghood has the better of the wolf, and many other stories are limited in their inspiration quality by the fact that they are not true.

Infallibility showed us something more thrilling. All of us who watched him know that man cannot beat down fate (a top weight of 56kg, conceding 13.5 kg to New Millennium), no matter how much his will may flame, but he can rock it back upon its heels when he puts all his heart and his shoulders into a blow.

That is what happened in the last 100 metres, as a mesmerize crowd locked on to the duel in their vision, even hard working First Citizens Bank employees (eager to mentally prepare for their Christmas party that night) were transfixed.

Hanif Emamlie aboard Infallibility stretched his mount out on the rail, as New Millennium under the guidance of Ricky Jadoo fought hard for her head. It seems for over 10 seconds that Infallibility would survive the assault of bubbling heads and jockeys driving for all they are worth. Infallibility was up by half a length, then they were even, but there were still all of 10 metres to the First Citizens Bank trophy.

In the stands Bernard Dulal Whiteway (Owner of New Millennium) , Junior Sammy (Owner of Infallibility) Larry Howai (Chief Executive Officer of First Citizens Bank), Chris Armond (Chief Executive Officer of Arima Race Club) and Derek Chin ( President of the Arima Race Club) were all smiling, together whatever the result they knew they had made many CITIZENS happy and proud to be FIRST to witness this epic.

The tragedy of life is not that man loses but that he almost wins. Or if you are intent on pointing out that given the change in jockey, the weight concession that Infallibility 's downfall was inevitable, that at least he completes the gesture of being on the eve of victory.

Rationally though there were no losers on First Citizens day, because both horses were applauded by an appreciative crowd, who understood what they had witnessed. These two rivals will meet again and the result may different or the same, but this race will never be reproduced.

After the race, even the many children who had joined their parents for the entertainment, were talking about the race, everything stop for nearly two minutes as racing gain more fans and First Citizens ensured that their clientele would grow.

After all, if they could produce such greatness in a day, if they can maintain your savings for longer periods, the returns can be far greater.

As Infallibility passed the winners enclosure, he glanced at the crowd that gathered to welcome his short head victor New Millennium and there was a sense of tragedy that he had failed his fans (he was installed as 4/5 favourite). We resented at once the law of gravity, the Malthusian theory and the fact that a straight line is the shortest distant between two points.

We feel that one of the elements of tragedy lies in the fact that fate gets nothing but victories and the championships. Gesture and Glamour remain with man. No infighting can take that away from him.

New Millennium won fairly and squarely. She is a great filly, perhaps the most efficient Trinidad and Tobago has seen in over 20 years, but everybody came away from Santa Rosa Park, talking about Infallibility. Not even the late running valiant third place effort of Mandela (whose wise trainer Maniram Maharaj had instructed his jockey to ride this way) could hide the fact that with Bound to Dance in fourth place, that three year olds had occupied three of the four place in the Champion stakes.

New Millennium won and Infallibitly got all the glory. Perhaps we will have to enlarge our conception of tragedy, for that too is tragic.

Barbadian allrounder Gary Sobers saw it fit, mere days before the crucial test to vilify the current West Indies coaches Jeffrey Dujon and Roger Harper in the Australian press and simultaneously Former West Indies fast bowler Colin Croft during the test match called on the West Indies team to forsake the remaining test matches and return to the Caribbean. Both men as former West Indies players are guilty of seeking headlines, it is sad therefore that because they no longer can make an impact on the field with either bat or ball, that they have decided to voice their misgivings so erroneously causing more damage.

Sobers for one should know better, it baffles me, why it was that Sobers did not raise these concerns about the West Indies coaches in his own country, instead of embarrassing everyone involved with West Indies cricket in Australia. All that was created was more laughter and snickers behind his back, as the Aussies love to upset the West Indies. In this case, it is doubly worse as they have used one of our own to set us back.

Sobers has scarcely been utilized by several West Indian Cricket Boards and it is clear from his sentiments that he has not forgotten this, it is also certain now that the previous cricket Boards may have seen attributes that allowed them to use him less.

Sobers instead of kicking our coaches and by extension our players when they were desperately in need of support, should have been more of a team player. His comments on the eve of the test series would not have been good for the morale of the team, because Sobers quite rightly is highly respected for his cricketing feats.

However we can never expect anyone to say that he was wrong especially the mainstream West Indies cricket press which resides in Barbados, but this was a travesty by Sobers. How can Sobers be allowed to meet and talk with any West Indian team in the future for the remaining three years of the coach's contract with these thoughts in his mind?

In life, even when you do not agree with a decision, one must act the part of a distinguished son of the soil, and should not spill the dirty waters of West Indies cricket into the spotlight. It cannot and has not helped. Sobers has let himself down, and for a man who was knighted he has certainly not been the inspiration for young West Indians that he could have been by being more supportive. Maybe his comments are true, and we have not heard him deny the claims printed in the press, but he must guard against creating any feelings of insularity in the Caribbean.

We can hope only that Sobers will soon attain a sobering moment and politely call both Dujon and Harper to express his apologies for comments made.

The other culprit Croft on Friday described the side dismissed for 82 by Australia as a disgrace to the West Indies and said they should be sent home.

"Unless there is a startling improvement in the second innings then the agony should not be prolonged," the retired fast bowler wrote in a column for 'The Australian' newspaper. ".... The West Indies, it seems, are completely lost when it comes to the effort, energies and concentration levels that are required to play Test cricket. It has come to such a sorry state of affairs now that as this Test series is likely to be so devalued the best course of action would be to send the current team home."

Croft should be aware that running away from the truth would not get the West Indies team anywhere. We must stand up and take the licks and more licks and hopefully learn. It is impossible to expect that by leaving Australia anything can be gained.v While everyone can justifiably understand Croft's pain at the inept performance of the team, we need to allow the many younger players on the team to experience tough, hard and flawless cricket. We can maybe develop some character and determination from this among our young players.

Nobody likes to lose in sport, but the objective of this tour was to train, teach our youngsters what cricket means, the veterans are there to provide the touch, and it is in the youths that we expect the future of West Indies cricket to grow.

Cricket is a cycle, this same Australian team that is beating the world and breaking records came to the West Indies under veteran captain Bobby Simpson, with a number of tenderfoots and were trounced in the 1980's, but they learnt the bitter lessons well.

There is still hope, but we expect more from our former players who should know better, we expect constructive and intelligently judged and timely comments. No man, and I stress this for all Barbadians in particular, No Man is an island.

Both men reside in the Caribbean and should seek to educate and promote the game, which unites a nation.

So gentlemen, it is never too late to apologize.