One one things

Brian Lara is my favourite batsman in the world. I say that bc i’d be willing to pay the most to watch him bat. Now i’m very nationalistic when it comes to cricket so this is somewhat sacrilageous in my eyes, but i’m being honest with myself. Kumar Sangakkara is my next in line, he has all the shots, lots of flair and the cover drive on one knee is just stunning. But Sanga hasn’t been at it long enough to pip Lara. The other day Lara went passed Allan Border as the world’s leading test run scorer and I felt it was a good time to pay a tribute to the great man.

I first heard of Lara when as a 8 year old I was astutely reading The Island when I came across something along the following lines, “Brain Lara smashes 277 in Sydney”. Brain Lara, what a strange name I thought, must be a clever chap. I re-read the line and realised that it’s Brian and not so strange a name. I didn’t see that innings but Lara rates it as his best yet so it must have been superb. At the time Sri Lanka hardly ever played the Windies so we rarely got a chance to see them in action other than the odd World series game that was telecast on MTV for some reason. In 1994 Lara smashed a dubious English attack to all parts of the ground to hammer 375 and went passed Gary Sobers’ record for the highest ever test score. A couple of months later he got 501 not out for Warwickshire against another county (he was dropped on 9 i think and the keeper had said “oh dear, he’ll probably go on and get a hundred now”). So the world took notice of Lara and he soon became the prime target of any opposition when they played the Windies. I remember one game in Sharjah, the series before the Aussie series in ‘95 just before the ‘96 world cup, when Eric Upashantha had Lara caught and bowled, I got so excited I jumped up with my arms in the air and almost lost my fingers to the fan. The game before that Lara hammered 169 against us and they got 330 or something and we lost by one run. We had to get 4 to win off one ball and Hashan Tillekeratne was on strike to Andy Cummings, I think I rightfully expected to lose then bc the chances of Hashan hitting a boundary at the best of times are pretty slim. But then Cummings produced a waist high full toss which should have been a no-ball but wasn’t called, Hashan whacked it in the air to deep square leg where Stuart Williams took a catch with his feet on the rope, the bastard.

So back to Lara. What I love about him is the excitement, flair and sheer genius he brings to the crease. The exaggerated back-lift, the flourish of the cover drive, the trade mark pull-shot with the right knee high in the air and his deft footwork are things that I’ve tried to immitate but can never come close to matching. The fact that he’s had his rough patches, such as the infamous McGrath bunny status, failure as a captain, prolonged low-scores and spats with authorities including one time captain Richie Richardson, make him a flawed genius, and I find that endearing. When Lara comes to the crease you don’t want to risk getting up to get a coffee or to switch channels for a second to catch the song on MTV, bc you simply can not predict what will happen, he produces some amazing flashes of brilliance mixed with flashes or utter mortality. That’s what differentiates him from the Tendulkars and Steve Waughs of this world (these other two are his rivals for the status of the top batsman of his generation) they lack that excitement factor and unpredictability. Steve Waugh is quite dull whilst Tendulkar will happily get a hundred at home against a not so flash bowling attack when things are going well. Lara on the other hand has the capacity to produce things that are inhuman, he’d fight lone battles time and again within his declining team, he’d counter-attack with ferocity and he’d defend diligently, in short, he has the X factor. The fact that pretty much every time he comes out to bat under severe pressure, usually following from 2 quick wickets, and that he still plays so well is something quite special.

A couple of examples, the 153 against aussie in Barbados when the Windies were chasing 300 odd and had collapsed to 100 for 5. Easily the best innings i’ve ever seen. And his batting against Murali despite which Sri Lanka swept the Windies 3-0 at home. In that series he produced the best footwork i’ve ever seen against spin bowling. One thing ppl tend to underestimate about Lara is his determination and singlemindedness. He often gets dismissed in casual circumstances and his attitude appears slack when the windies are getting whipped, this gives an impression of nonchalance and carelessness. But that isn’t the trait of a man with 8 double hundreds, a triple hundred and a quadruple hundred. The first (and only) time I had to bat through 50 overs in a match I was mentally and physically drained and could barely walk the next 2 days, it’s hard to imagine what powers of concentration and physical stamina are required to bat for days on end the way Lara has done on several occassions. Apparently he used to practice with a wicket as a bat and marbles as a ball with flower pots as fielders, sounds familiar.

Lara is now 36 and still produces innings like the one in Adelaide the other day, a genius who has stood the test of time and yet never fails to entertain. He alone has kept the spirit of Carribean cricket alive during their fall from grace, and he ought to keep his collar up and head high. Brain Charles Lara, I salute you.