Lara in a class by himself
From Orin Davidson in New York
Stabroek News
April 17, 2004
He may not be everybody's favorite player, but no one can doubt Brian Lara's status as the sport's most accomplished run scorer.
His record breaking 400 not out amassed off England on Monday has made him the greatest accumulator of runs in contemporary cricket and outside of the late Sir Donald Bradman, he is unmatched in his ability to compile huge innings.
Lara may not have the best average in the game, nor the highest aggregate, but he has some of the biggest scores of all time.
Following his stupendous display in Antigua, the Trinidadian can stand tall as the only player to have compiled 500 or more, 400 or more and 300 or more in first class cricket.
His 501 made in the English County Champion-ship, his 375 which broke Sir Garry Sobers' 36-year-old Test record and this week's 400 which topped Matthew Hayden's previous Test best 380, are accomplishments that would top with any goal scoring hat-trick in soccer's World Cup finals.
Not even the legendary Muhammad Ali's accomplishments in the boxing ring which made him the greatest sports icon ever, can overshadow by much Lara's feats so far.
Such is his prodigious appetite for big scores, - Lara's rival for number one player in the world - Sachin Tendulkar's all time highest test score is 241 while Hayden's 380 is by far his biggest with 203 being his next best.
Although both Hayden and Tendulkar have much better averages in the 57 runs per innings range, than Lara, the West Indian run machine has made a much deeper impression in the memory by his sheer individual brilliance.
In becoming the first man to ever set and reclaim a batting or cricket record, Lara has distinguished himself with a feat that is hardly likely to be repeated in the game.
Although his 400 may have been scored on a batting pitch which was the same he set the first record, it nevertheless required immeasurable levels of concentration and shot making ability of which Lara always seemed capable of since his junior days.
It was the best ever exhibition of concentration one can ever hope to see, spread over 12 hours and comprising all the shots in the book and the toughest defence when the necessity arose.
Significantly, Lara's knock was made extra special because of the circumstances the West Indies captain found himself under when he took the field after Daren Ganga's early dismissal on the first day at the Antigua Recreation ground.
Pilloried for his team sliding to another series loss which went with it a 36-year-old WI statistic of not losing to England at home, Lara was enduring the harshest of a flood of criticism that began ever since the tour of Africa ended in another crushing loss in January.
And after being booed openly by the crowd after the Jamaica Test loss, Lara took all in stride, overcame the pressure and efficiently went on to become the first man to ever reach 400 runs in Test cricket.
Only the very great can survive, much less shrug off such adversity and it is a measure of the man that it is not the first time he has distinguished himself in such outstanding manner.
It was not too long ago, Lara was on the verge of losing the captaincy after another disastrous tour of South Africa in 1999 when he rebounded with his two most valuable batting performances to date.
His 213 and 153 not out in the Jamaica and Barbados Tests spearheaded brilliant victories against Australia that put the world champions on the verge of an improbable series loss.
There are many who would justifiably argue that those two innings are too much of a rarity in Lara's 106 test-match career.
His record proves that he cannot be classed as a true match winner, as his consistency in that regard cannot compare to the likes of Sir Vivian Richards.
There were many occasions including the two whitewashes West Indies endured against Australia and South Africa when he could not stand up to be counted with innings that justified his ability.
His captaincy so far, is also a blimp on his stellar playing career record and he surely cannot be ranked alongside Sir Frank Worrell and Clive Lloyd.
But at 35-years-of-age he still has a few years left in the game and one would hope that Lara's latest world-record feat will inspire him to become the best all-round player he can be.