“Brian Lara can say whatever he likes and I will not listen.”

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding has hit back at criticism by Brian Lara who said he was “embarrassed” by the unsportsmanlike behaviour of the team in Holding’s early 1980s heyday.

Delivering the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s on Tuesday, Lara said the team “played the game in a way it should never, ever be played”, and cited an example when Holding kicked over the stumps during a series against New Zealand in 1980.

Lara said: “Michael Holding decided he was no longer a cricketer, he was a footballer and he kicked a stump. I’m sure the occurrences during that period had a big [negative] effect on cricket.”

Holding, 63, who was appointed president of his former county Derbyshire in March, has previously made no secret of his dislike for Lara’s cricketing style and accused him of “getting away with murder” during his reign.

Thank you to everyone who tuned in to watch @BrianLara 's 2017 #CowdreyLecture!



To watch from the start ????https://t.co/9NYOi5wPf3 pic.twitter.com/0KhQXv5ivx — Lord's Ground (@HomeOfCricket) September 4, 2017

Responding to Lara’s latest claims, Holding told Press Association Sport: “Brian Lara can say whatever he likes and I will not listen. I was never a Brian Lara fan and I never appreciated the way he played.

“As for having a big effect on cricket, I’m very glad about it. It brought the international panel [of umpires] into force. But it wasn’t just us – there were other incidents involving Mike Gatting and (Arjuna) Ranatunga.

“We believed in ourselves and the more we won the more it built our belief to become even greater. Winning became a habit and every time we went out on that field we expected to win.”

Holding refused to get carried away with the current West Indies team, who have raised hopes of a revival after claiming their first Test win in England in 17 years at the end of last month.

BRILLIANT 'WIN'DIES AND WHAT A COMEBACK!

Windies beat England by 5 wickets and level the series 1-1#ENGvWI — CricketWestIndies (@westindies) August 29, 2017

He added: “I’ve heard it so many times and it’s always the same old story. Have we turned the corner? We’ve turned about 40 corners since the year 2000.

“I’m hopeful but I’m waiting to see what happens in the next Test match. Too many times over the last 20 years the West Indies have done something to say this could be the corner, and then you’ve seen nothing.”

:: West Indies great Michael Holding is raising awareness of the increased risk of prostate cancer in black men. For more information go to http://strongerknowingmore.org.