Lara bids adieu

End of another great era

By Aubrey Kuruppu

Way back in the 1980s, Sir Gary Sobers was asked by a fellow West Indian test player to take a look at a youngster from Trinidad who was something special. Sobers duly did so and was immediately struck by the lad’s love of batting, the fact that he didn’t throw his hand away and by his approach, his eagerness to take advantage of the loose and even the half loose deliveries.

West Indies Captain Brian Lara looks on from the players Pavilion during the match against Bangladesh in the Super-Eight ICC World Cup at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown Barbados. -AFP

The lad, Brian Lara was to make his first class debut two years later at 19 against the Leeward Islands at Pointe-a-Pierre in 1988. His entry into the test team (Lahore 1990) and the one day side (Karachi 1990) was probably delayed by the success of the Caribbean teams of the time. This success masked the continued failures of some middle order batsmen.

His first test hundred took three years and when it came it was a monumental effort. Lara, a little immodestly, refers to his 277 run out at Sydney in January 1993 as a “gem”. Lara rates this 372 ball, 38 boundary innings as the one he would like most to replay on account of the context of the innings, the quality of the stroke play and the role it played in the eventual outcome of the series.

St John’s Antigua 14 months later (April 1994) and the phenomenal left hander played the innings that changed his life. He eclipsed his mentors world second 365 with 375 (538 balls, 45 fours) against the English trundles whose bowling he feasted on many a time. Lara turns the knock overwhelming and unbelievable. The upshot of these heroics was that he became the standard bearer for cricket, the batsman that every one looked up to and aspired to be.

Forty nine days later, the test record holder played an epic innings of 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston to claim the record for the highest first class score. Move over Hanif Mohamed who had made 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpar thirty five years earlier.

Trevor Penney, who partnered Lara during a partnership of 314, was only able to make 44. His comment “batting with Lara gives you an inferiority complex” says it all.

Lara’s record of 375 was briefly stolen from him by Hayden who made 380 against a hapless Zimbabwe side. However the master quickly put that to right by going on to make 400 against (you guessed it) England, once more.

Centuries have cascaded from his bat in both forms of the game all over the world. Lara enjoyed a tremendous three test series against Sri Lanka, charming his way to hundreds in both Colombo and Kandy. His duels with the spin ace, Muralitharan were the stuff of dreams. His flicked shots through mid-wicket, and against the spin, mesmerized the magician himself. Forced to play second fiddle, Murali duly acknowledged Lara’s mastery.

His soul-stirring double hundreds on home soil against Steve Waugh’s Australians were the source of wonder and amazement. The fact that these masterpieces helped his team to his back in the services made these successes all the sweeter.

The fact that he has not played in a World Cup winning side is by no means a blot on the escutcheon. There were hopes prior to the 9th edition of the World Cup that the cavaliers from the Caribbean would break the hoodoo that usually overtakes the hosts. Lara’s men failed spectacularly and the great man himself had a very ordinary tournament.

Final judgement on Lara’s genius should not be mixed up with his seeming inability to lift his team from its bootstraps. Aid not Worrel has the likes of Sobers, Kanhai, Gibbs, Griffith and Hall? Lloyd was able to decimate the opposition as he had mean, fast bowlers coming off the assembly line. He also had the likes of Richards, Haynes, Greenidge and Kallicharan besides himself.

By contrast whom did Lara have to deliver the knock-out blows, to decapitate the opposition? The meek may inherit the earth but they don’t win you world Cups.

The Aura, the charisma that was part of the Lara persona will never be seen again with the passage of time he could be just another West Indian great. Thanks for the memories, Brian.