Lara, who turns 38 next month, surprised the cricket world during a news conference by announcing that Saturday's World Cup Super Eights match against England at the Kensington Oval would be his last.

The left-handed Trinidadian, 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 at the end of the World Cup and carry his career into the Test series against England, starting May 17.

But he decided this was the end of the road in all international matches.

Lara has scored 11,953 runs in 131 Tests and 10,387 in 298 One-Day Internationals.

"Lara walks," said the headline in Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, depicting a picture of the captain walking out after being dismissed in the game against Bangladesh in Barbados. It was after that 99-run victory at the Kensington Oval that he announced his 17-year career as a West Indies player would end this weekend.

"I Quit" said a similar headline in the Trinidad Guardian, which expressed surprise that Lara had changed him mind on Test cricket.

"About a month ago, Lara said he might play into his 40s," said the Trinidad Guardian. "But the dapper left-hander, clearly perturbed by the intense personal criticism that he has received following the dismal World Cup campaign, announced he was pulling the curtain on a career that spanned 17 years."

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Former West Indies pace spearhead Wes Hall seemed stunned by Lara's decision.

"His legacy is fantastic, a great batsman and a big legacy," said Hall, whose post-retirement tenure as a cricket official also featured a term as president of the West Indies Cricket Board.

But even in his retirement, entertaining stroke-player Lara evoked some critical comments because he was seen as an individualist rather than a team player.

Michael Holding, a fast-bowling member of the successful West Indies team of the late 70s and early 80s, said Lara should have quit long before now.

"Lara stayed on for longer than he should have. He had a great career, and now that he has retired from the game we have to thank him and look forward," Holding told cricinfo.com.

"I know a lot of people will be shocked to a degree, but I think it was on the cards."

Lara's departure was received with a tinge of sadness on his islands, Trinidad and Tobago.

The T&T Cricket Board's chief executive, Forbes Persaud, said Lara's departure would be a severe blow to the West Indies.

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"I believe that Lara would have been a big asset playing (more) Tests for the West Indies," Persaud said.

Dudnath Ramkessoon, vice president of the T&T Cricket Board, said it was unfortunate that Lara made his exit from international cricket on a sad note.

"Probably the pressure of the captaincy was too much for him to handle especially at this stage of his career," Ramkessoon told the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.

"I do not think it was fair for him to withstand that kind of pressure of being the one to blame when all the players around him have been failing."

Cricket columnist Robert Craddock in Australia's Adelaide Advertiser newspaper wondered how would history judge Lara.

"What will cricket historians make of Brian Lara? A batsman of rare gifts, a night owl, a complex, haunted soul who never really found happiness?" wrote Craddock.

"If they answer yes to all of the above they will have a snapshot of the man who became that most fascinating brand of sportsman ... the flawed genius. Lara's exit, while perfectly timed for a West Indian side seeking urgent regeneration, is a sad moment for cricket because he brought so much character to the game."