By Martin Gough BBC Sport

I'm very optimistic about our future, especially in the one-day game Brian Lara

West Indies great Brian Lara says he could play on after next year's World Cup for one last tour of England.

"There's the World Cup and then a tour to England - that's so tempting.

"I'd really love to come back over to England - it's the home of cricket. The battles I've had against England have been tremendous," he told BBC Sport.

"But let's take one step at a time. We've got the ICC (Champions Trophy), we've got a 37-year-old body, we've got a Pakistan tour and the World Cup."

Interview: West Indies captain Brian Lara

England are scheduled to host West Indies in the first part of next summer, playing four Tests and three one-day internationals.

It had been widely assumed Lara would retire after the World Cup, which takes place for the first time in the Caribbean next March.

But Test cricket's leading run-scorer has clearly been enthused by the performance of his young side in winning their recent home one-day series against India.

They also clung on for three successive Test draws against a touring side ranked four places above them in the ICC Test rankings before conceding the final match.

"We had two and a half good months of cricket. India came to the West Indies playing better one-day and Test cricket and we won the (one-day) series 4-1 but lost the deciding Test match," Lara continued.

Who leads the team is not of major importance as long as everybody puts in 100%

"Overall I'm proud of the guys. They're making steps to improve. You can see them maturing and repaying the selectors for their faith.

"I'm very optimistic about our future, especially in the one-day game. We've got a lot of that in the next six to eight months, including the World Cup, and I expect us to keep rolling on and improving."

Lara threatened to quit as captain after the final Test with India because of a row with selectors, but he played down the argument and made it clear he is committed to the team.

"I want to be a part of that resurgence. I want to see us get back to the top," he went on.

"It's so important everyone involved - the selectors, the public, the administrators, the cricketers - have all got to be moving in the same direction and not fighting each other if we want to move forward.

"Who leads the team is not of major importance as long as everybody puts in 100% in a positive manner."