Lara pays tribute to former England pacer Willis

West Indies batting great Brian Lara on Friday paid glowing tribute to the legendary Bob Wills, saying many cricketers look upto the former England pacer as a father figure.

Willis, who represented England in 90 Tests and had 325 wickets, died aged 70 on Wednesday after battling prolonged illness in England.

"Bob Willis is former great from England. He was before my time, but I have listened to the intimate remarks from people like Ian Botham, Michael Atherton that he was pivotal in England moving forward, especially in the fast bowling department. And that he laid the foundation and a lot look at him as sort of a father figure in that department," Lara said.

"Ian Botham told me that there was only one fast bowler in his team and that was Bob Willis; there were lot of medium pacers, but Willis was the fast bowler."