Lara's 400
What the people say about
By Johann Earle
Stabroek News
April 26, 2004
Roland Taylor - Artist: 'I feel that he did it for himself but also to show the Caribbean and others that he could still do it. I do believe that he is a little selfish but he still wants to be a part of the team. I congratulate him on his achievement of 400 and I still feel proud of him, despite the failures of the team. I think, however, that West Indies cricket cannot go the distance and someone else should be the captain. The new record might not be broken for another ten years. I don't see it being broken anytime soon.'
St. Clair Rogers - Farmer: 'I am not sure what motivated Lara to go for the record, but for me he is the greatest. One has to understand that he is working under a lot of stress. He has done a wonderful job for West Indies and the cricketing world. I hope that if he gets the opportunity to do it again he would. The kind of criticism he was getting was telling on him. He has shown the world that he still has potential.'
Sensei Clyde Robinson - Martial Arts Instructor: 'For me I don't think that it was a selfish thing to do. He did it for the team and for West Indies cricket. He did his best to put the team somewhere. People in the Caribbean should be proud. I believe that what he did was an eye opener for the whole team to do better. The team needs to improve its batting and bowling and the management needs to put the necessary measures in place. The West Indian bowlers should work on their batting.'
S. Persaud - Cricket Fan: 'I am happy that he made the record and broke it back. I hope that he gets the team's support. But I feel that he should give the captaincy to someone else and concentrate on batting.'
Thomas Williams - Vendor: 'He made the 400 runs for the team and I don't think that it will be broken in a hurry. He is a good batsman and I feel that they should stick with him as the captain. I have the hope that the team will eventually do well.'
Abiola Richards - Office Attendant: 'I think that what Brian Lara did in Antigua was a fantastic achievement for the team and himself. It would cause others to perform well with the aim of breaking that record.'
Heather Graham - Teacher: 'The Brian Lara feat will motivate the whole team to do better. I don't know if it was selfish but other people say so. Sometimes Lara performs and at other times he doesn't. But what he did would encourage other players to break the record.'
Christobelle Simpson - Teacher: 'On the surface it is individual effort but on the whole it can be seen as a team effort. Whatever happens, the record remains with him. All the praise and glory will remain with Lara. But it can be a catalyst for change for the other West Indies players. It augurs well for the West Indies and shows resilience, commitment and determination of the individual to achieve something yet to be achieved. And I laud his determination.'
Petal Latchman - UG Student: 'On the question of whether or not the 400 runs was a selfish act, I am still fifty/fifty. I first thought that it was indeed selfish but people say that the match would have been drawn so let him go on to break the record. I think that it would appear to be a vendetta if persons were to try to break it as soon as it is made. But in spite of his achievement I don't like Lara as captain, I prefer Shivnarine Chanderpaul for the captaincy, but he has to work on the way that he speaks.'
Denise Fields - Public Sector Employee: 'The 400 not out was good after a long time of bad performances for the West Indies team. It should inspire them to do better. Others will want to try and beat that score. Lara should concentrate on his batting and leave the captaincy to someone else.'