One look at Brian Charles Lara's Test scores, and there is no doubt in one's mind that here is a batsman with a vociferous appetite for runs. In the year 1994, he broke his countryman Gary Sobers' long standing record for many decades by scoring a brilliant 375. As if to prove that this was not a fluke, he followed it up with an unbeaten 501 in a first class match for Warwickshire the following season. In 2004, Lara became the first batsman to reclaim the highest individual Test score record by scoring a 400 against England, in the process breaking Hayden's 380.
Lara's attitude towards cricket can be best described as moody brilliance. To go with the above records, he is probably the only batsman to have tackled Murali the way he did, scoring 600-odd runs in a three match series in Sri Lanka, his innings epitomized by quicksilver feet movement. And then there were times, when he looked good to be anywhere but the batting crease, almost as if his mind's not on the job. As if to drive home a point, Lara's overall Test average of almost 53 is not too dissimilar from his 51 against the Aussies, and it was only 41 against NZ.
Brian Lara's ODI record of more than 10,000 runs at an average of almost 41 was equally great, but somehow, his amazing Test innings overshadowed the same. Incidentally, Lara became the second batsman, after Sachin Tendulkar to score more than 10,000 runs in both forms of the game.
On retirement, Lara is one of the few cricketers, whose Test average was more than his First Class one!
Affectionately referred to as “The Prince of Port-of-Spain,” Lara was the 10th of 11 children born to Bunty and Pearl Lara.
As a child, he spent a lot of time hiking over the hills of Santa Cruz and into Maracas Bay, which is on the north coast, with his six brothers and four sisters – Rudolph, Arlene, Agnes, Winston, Robert, Mervyn, Richard, Kathleen, Lyndon and Karen, spending the entire day at the beach.
His father and one of his older sisters, Agnes, were the first to recognise young Brian’s exceptional batting talents and enrolled him at Harvard Coaching Clinic at the age of six years, where he received coaching on Sundays. As a result, Lara had a very early education in correct batting technique.
Lara’s first school was St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic primary. He then went to San Juan secondary, which is located in Moreau Road, Lower Santa Cruz. A year later, at 14 years old, he moved to Fatima College, Port of Spain, where he began to show signs of his promise, under coach Harry Ramdass.
In his first season in schools’ cricket, Lara made an astonishing 745 runs for an average of 126.16, which earned him selection on the Trinidad and Tobago Under -16 team.By the age of 15, he played his first West Indian Under 19 youth tournament and represented the West Indies in Under 19 cricket.
Lara also played in local junior soccer and table tennis, but his passion was cricket. He was determined to follow in the footsteps of his idol Roy Fredericks, whose aggressive approach to batting and buttoned down long sleeve shirts and high collar, attracted him.
In 1987, Lara achieved one of his first milestones. He broke the record of 480 runs previously held by Carl Hooper when he scored 498 during the West Indies Youth Tournament. From there, Lara’s career soared.
One year later, he was leading the West Indies Youth Team to the Bicentennial Youth World Cup in Australia.
Having dominated youth cricket, Lara was soon elevated to the senior Trinidad and Tobago team in 1988, at the age of 19, where runs continued to flow from his bat in the Red Stripe Cup. In his second match, he made 92 against Barbados, whose attack included accomplished Test bowlers Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.
Seeing his promise, the West Indies selectors named him as 12th man for the second Test against Pakistan. However, Lara had to withdraw due to the death of his father, Bunty, who suffered a fatal heart attack.
In 1989, he was made captain of the West Indies B team and scored 145 against Zimbabwe.
So matured was he, that he became Trinidad and Tobago’s youngest captain at 20 years. Later he made his Test debut for the West Indies against Pakistan, scoring a battling 44 in the first innings and five in the second.
Lara was then forced into the background for the best part of two years as a powerful West Indies batting line-up, led by Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Richie Richardson and Gus Logie, left no room for him.
However, the departure of several of those players made room for the promising left hander to finally return in 1992, some argue much later that he should have.
He played in the match in which South Africa were restored to Test cricket after years in the wilderness because of their apartheid system, and contributed 17 and 64, as the West Indies snatched a near impossible win on the final day.
Thereafter, he only got better.
Lara’s visit to Australia 1993, provided the perfect setting for him to showcase his talents. He scored 58 and 0, at Brisbane and 52 and 4 at Melbourne, before a superb 277 in the third Test at Sydney announced his impending greatness.
Not only was it his maiden Test 100, but it took a run out to dismiss him.
Later, in a glowing tribute to that performance, his daughter was named after the ground.
Lara did not stop there, going on to hit another half century at Adelaide, and although the West Indies inflicted a severe whipping on the Australians at Perth, he scored just 16.
There was no doubt, however, that greatness was in the making, as he ended the series with 466 runs at an average of 58.25.
In the 1994 Red Stripe Cup, which Trinidad and Tobago won under Lara’s leadership, he averaged 79.44 for the series, including consecutives hundreds against Jamaica (180), Guyana (169 not out), and Barbados (206).
It was the start of a purple patch in his youthful life.
Two months later, Lara made his mark on the international cricket scene, making a ground-breaking 375 runs on the Antigua Recreation Ground which exceeded the former record of Garfield Sobers’ 365 not out against Pakistan. And as if that was not enough, two months later, he scored a record-breaking 501 runs not out in 474 minutes for Warwickshire against Durham to become the first batsman to score more than 500 runs in a single innings in a First Class match.
His meteoric rise continued in 1995, when he scored three hundreds in consecutive matches in the away series against England, which earned him the Man of the Series Award. Several of these awards ensued as Lara continued to raise the standards for international cricket.
Against New Zealand in a two-Test series, he had a best score of 74, while a return to Australia resulted in just one century in the final of the five Tests (132) at Perth.
The most significant moment in 1998, however, would have been reserved for the third Test against India in Barbados, when Lara was appointed captain of the team for the first time, as a result of injury to Courtney Walsh.
Batting first, West Indies made 298 to which India replied with 319 for a first innings lead of 21. In their second turn at the crease, West Indies capitulated for just 140, to leave India with what seemed a simple task of getting 119 for victory. However, in a clever exhibition of tactical skills, Lara manipulated a depleted bowling attack, to inspire an unlikely victory by 38 runs.
A century in the second of two Tests away to Sri Lanka, and failure to get to a half century against Pakistan, followed, before Lara was officially appointed captain for the home series against England.
It should be noted that the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), rejected the selector’s recommendation of Lara, before relenting in the face of media uproar. West Indies comfortably won the series, although Lara failed to score a century.
In the series that followed, Lara, as captain, and several of the senior players were labelled rebels, after members of the team opted to hole out in a hotel in London, en route to a five-match series against South Africa- the first full series between the teams since the Proteas returned to the international fold. The players were demanding better playing conditions and retainer contracts. Both Lara, and vice captain Carl Hooper were sacked, but after negotiations, the pair was reinstated. However, it was felt that the tour was blighted and it was no surprise that the West Indies performed woefully, losing the series 5-0, and failing to win a single match on the tour. Lara hit three half centuries in his 10 innings, but it was obvious that the contentious issues before a ball was bowled had a toll on the mental approach of the players.
What followed, some will argue, was probably the lowest point in Lara’s captaincy, the WICB appointed him captain for the first two Tests at home against Australia, and it seemed his tenure was about to end, when the West Indies were bowled out for 51 in their second innings to lose the match by 312 runs.
But The Prince of Port of Spain returned to all his glory in the second Test, not only to retain his leadership position but to inspire his team to a ten-wicket victory with a brilliant 213.
But it was the following match which would show the mettle of the man.
With the series levelled 1-1, Lara blasted an unbeaten 153 as the West Indies took a series lead 2-1, with just one wicket to spare. The pundits rate that innings as one of the greatest in Test cricket.
Although he scored an even hundred in the final Test, Australia won the game to square the series and retain the Sir Frank Worrell trophy. However, Lara was Man of the Series for the second time that year.
Despite that success, Lara’s leadership remained under scrutiny and it was felt that despite his greatness as a batsman, he was not inspiring the players around him. For the World Cup later that year, Lara’s vice captain Carl Hooper suddenly retired and withdrew from the team, creating much debate.
The team beat Bangladesh, New Zealand and Scotland but lost to Pakistan and Australia, with Lara failing to have too much of an impact. His best score was 36 against the Kiwis.
When the West Indies returned from losing a two-Test series to New Zealand in December that year, it ended Lara’s first of three stints as captain.
In February 2000, he announced his resignation as captain, and announced that he was taking a sabbatical.
Four months later, he was back, under the captaincy of Jimmy Adams, as the West Indies toured England. He enjoyed a modest series by his standards, scoring one century and one half century in nine innings as the West Indies drew the series 2-2.
Again, he failed to scale the lofty heights of his first visit when he visited Australia for a five Test series in 2001, with only one innings of note, 182 at Adelaide, as the West Indies were humiliated 5-0. But a visit to Sri Lanka and a battle with the great off-spinner Muriah Muralitharan, proved incisive as Lara scored 688 runs with three centuries including a double from six innings. At the end of the series, which West Indies lost 3-0, he averaged 114.66
In seven innings against India, Lara could score only two half centuries but the West Indies won the series 2-1, before losing a two-Test series against New Zealand 1-0, with Lara hitting a defiant 73 in the first Test which West Indies lost by 204 runs.
During the series against India, tragedy struck the iconic cricketer when his mother died from cancer. He later established the Pearl and Bunty Lara Foundation in memory of his parents, which is a charitable organisation aimed at addressing health and social care issues.
The early part of 2003, saw the West Indies in South Africa at the World Cup, under Carl Hooper. Lara’s 116 in the opening fixture against the host, saw the West Indies earning a three-run win, and although he hit 73 against Canada, losses to New Zealand and Sri Lanka and a no result against Bangladesh, ruined the Caribbean team’s chances and they exited after the first round.
Lara returned to favour with the administration under Wes Hall, new president of the WICB, who persuaded him to return to the helm, and he took over for the home series against Australia, the world’s number one team.
Lara’s 26 and `110 in the first Test and 91 and 122 in the second, could not prevent big losses and he made just 14 and 42 in the third which also resulted in a nine-wicket loss for the home team.
However, the West Indies made history in the fourth Test, scoring 418 in the second innings to become the team scoring the highest number of runs to win a Test match. Lara contributed 68 and 60.
In 2004, Trinidad and Tobago spiraled into a state of jubilation when he broke yet another record. He scored 400 not out for the West Indies against England and also brought home the ICC Champions Trophy. Controversy struck in 2005 when Lara declined selection for the West Indies team due to a dispute over his personal Cable and Wireless sponsorship deal which clashed with the Cricket Board’s main sponsor, Digicel. Though the dispute was resolved after the first Test of the series against the touring South African team, Lara lost his captaincy to Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
He was reappointed captain in 2006 and led them to victory in One-Day series against Zimbabwe and India. The West Indies also finished runners up in the finals of both the DLF Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy. That same year, he became the first West Indies player to pass 10,000 One Day International runs.
In April 2007, Lara announced his retirement from international cricket and indicated that the Cricket World Cup would be his last appearance. Though the West Indies lost to England, he was still highly revered for his many accomplishments.
Later that year, he returned to the sport. He signed a contract with the Indian Cricket League and became captain of the Mumbai Champs. He also volunteered to play for his home team during the start of 2008 domestic season. Added to his many achievements, Lara has received several awards and honours.
Such include: being dubbed an ambassador for Sport of Trinidad and Tobago. He has received a diplomatic passport to promote his country globally; the highest honour of Trinidad and Tobago, the Trinity Cross in 1994; becoming an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 2007; the Order of the Caribbean Community in 2008; and becoming an honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2009.
Lara dated Trinidad journalist and model Leasel Rovedas, with whom he has two daughters, Sydney (1996), who was named in tribute of the Sydney Cricket Ground where he scored his first Test century the highly acclaimed 277. In late 2010, Lara and Rovedas welcomed another daughter, Tyla.
Lara’s favourite colours are burgundy and grey. He loves Chinese and Italian restaurants and his favourite movie is Shawshank Redemption.
Profile
A hero, a magician, an entertainer, a match-winner, a saviour, a leader, a tragic romantic, Brian Charles Lara, like a masterful actor, slipped in and out of several roles with effortless ease. First thing's first, Lara will forever be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, bracketed alongside the elite company of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.
Lara's wizardry and sheer style though would trump any batsman including the aforementioned troika. Another attribute that set him up as a cut above the rest was his voracious appetite for big, massive scores. Armed with a high backlift, generating that typical Caribbean flourish, Lara was equally efficient against spin and pace. Ask Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath and the rest of their breed.
Lara initially excelled in junior soccer and table tennis but cricket was his burning love. As a 15 year old lad at Fatima college in Port of Spain, Lara amassed as many as 7 three figure scores in a single season of the inter-school competition. Under-19 and first-class cricket followed suit. In only his second first-class encounter, the southpaw held fort for more than 300 minutes, compiling 92 against Trinidad and Tobago's sporting rivals - Barbados - in a sterling effort that defied the likes of Joel Garner and Malcom Marshall.
There was no looking back as Lara, at the age of 20, was appointed as T&T's captain, thus claiming the honour of becoming the youngest ever to lead Trinidad and Tobago. In the absence of Viv Richards, Lara was handed his Test debut the same year against Pakistan in Lahore, making 44 and 6. Right after the Test though he was banished to the domestic circuit and returned to the biggest stage only after the departure of Viv.
Soon, Lara established himself as the West Indies' main man. While the rest of the team was in doldrums during the 1992 World Cup, Lara, who opened the batting, rattled 333 at a breezy rate.
Two years later he produced a monumental feat, notching up 375 versus England at Antigua, which was incidentally bettered by himself at the same venue about a decade later, earning the distinction as the first and only player to register 400 in Tests, an immortal landmark, which stands undimmed by the passage of time. His unconquered 153 in a nerve-wracking 1 wicket triumph over the Aussies in 1999 was also the stuff of legends.
Having cracked 501* for Warwickshire, just weeks after authoring 375, Lara eclipsed Hanif Mohammad's 499 to own the highest first-class score in cricket history. Never since Sir Donald Bradman had a batsman racked up runs for fun. Lara was special, he was an all-time colossus in the making.
The Trinidad ace eventually topped the Test runs charts before the honour was snatched away by Sachin Tendulkar. Lara too tallied 10000+ runs in the ODI format with the pick of his knocks being the 129-ball-169 against a spin loaded Sri Lankan attack, helping West Indies squeeze out a narrow 4 run victory in Sharjah. Among a plethora of records, Lara has etched a century against every Test playing nation.
He was enlisted with three stints of captaincy but did not shine as much as his batting did in each of those opportunities (or curses). It was not Lara's fault, for he was devoid of appropriate resources.
Under his leadership, West Indies suffered the ignominy of their first whitewash at the hands of South Africa before losing to England in the Caribbean. With the failures of his compatriots stretching the list further Lara assumed the role of an one man army. It was a pity that Lara's illustrious career coincided with West Indies hurtling into an abyss. He copped a fair share of criticism during his multiple tenures as skipper but he survived the turbulent period, which would have capsized a less seaworthy vessel.
Ever the fighter, Lara inspired his troops to the ICC champions trophy title victory in 2004 in Old Blighty, which remains the highlight of his captaincy. Lara hung up his wonderfully worn international boots following the 2007 World Cup, where hosts West Indies progressed to the Super Eights round. During the time of Lara's departure, speculations were rife that his run-ins with the authority had swelled to a crescendo but his outstanding contribution to the sport cannot be undermined.
Post retirement, Lara plunged into T20s, signing up for the now-disbanded Indian Cricket League and served as the skipper of Mumbai Champs. Later, his services were hired by Southern Rocks, a Zimbabwe franchise for the 2010-11 Stanbic Bank 20 competition. Fittingly, the Prince of Trinidad, was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame in 2012.
Brian Lara West Indies
Batting Career Summary
M Inn NO Runs HS Avg BF SR 100 200 50 4s 6s St
Tests 131 232 6 11953 400 52.89 19753 60.51 34 9 48 1559 88 0
ODI 299 289 30 10405 169 40.17 13086 79.51 19 0 63 1035 133 0
Bowling Career Summary
M Inn B Runs Wkts BBI BBM Econ Avg SR 5W 10W
Tests 131 4 60 28 0 0/0 0/0 2.8 0 0 0 0
ODI 299 5 49 61 4 5/2 5/2 7.62 15.25 12.25 0 0
British journalist James Fuller has written a biography of former West Indies captain Brian Lara, one of the greatest cricketers of all time.
Fuller, also a keen cricketer who played at domestic level for 20 years, says he wrote 'Caribbean lives-Brian Lara' during the six years he lived in Lara's homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, reports CMC.
Lara, who retired in 2008, holds the world record scores in Test cricket (400 not out), first-class cricket (501 not out) and the most runs in a test match over (28).
"I wanted to write about Lara's career from the Caribbean perspective, as that had never been done before," said Fuller.
"Living in the Caribbean gave me the time and opportunity to access people who were close to him at every stage of his life and career: coaches, teachers."
Fuller has been a journalist for 13 years and was named the Newspaper Society's UK Young Journalist of The Year in 2002.
He now lives in Tauranga, New Zealand, where he is a senior writer at the Bay of Plenty Times.
"I also wanted to transmit that sense of vibrancy and fun which is so much a part of the Trinidadian culture; a culture which helped shape one of the greatest batsman the world has ever seen," said Fuller.
"Being a cricket fanatic of limited ability, writing a book was also the only way my name would ever be mentioned in the same breath as Brian Lara's."
'Caribbean Lives: Brian Lara', published by Macmillan, is available on Amazon from May 31.