A genius in difficult times

STANDING TALL

AMIDST RUINS

In December that year, West Indies were drubbed 3-0 in Sri Lanka. Lara managed scores of 178, 40, 74, 45, 221 and 130 against a rampaging Muttiah Muralitharan. The final two innings came in the same Test at Colombo and stand as the highest total scored by a batsman in a losing cause. Murali was to suffer again when Lara piled up 209 against him at Gros Islet.

Lara was handed the captaincy again when Australia visited in March 2003. By now he was by far the best batsman of the side, without resources to support him and procure decent results. Heavy defeats followed against the world conquering Australians.

In November 2003, on one of the easier tours against Zimbabwe, Lara hammered 191 from just 203 balls at Harare and overtook Viv Richards to become the highest run-scorer for West Indies in Test cricket.And a month later, with West Indies trailing by 228 runs in the first innings, Lara smashed Robin Peterson for 4,6,6,4,4,4 in an over during a scintillating 202, once again scored in a losing cause. South Africa won the four-Test series 3-0.

By the next April, Lara had lost the home series to England and was going through a troubled sequence with the bat. Six months earlier, his world record had also been broken by Matthew Hayden, who had plundered 380 against Zimbabwe. With every voice and omen against him, Lara fought his way back once again, becoming the first person to break the 400-run barrier in Test cricket. In the last Test of the series, at Antigua, he scored 400 not out as West Indies piled up 751.

He also became the first man to reclaim the world record for highest score, the second player since Don Bradman to score two Test triple centuries, and the second after Bill Ponsford to score two First-Class quadruple-hundreds. It had been a ten-year journey since the 375, but Lara had proved himself still capable of the mighty act. He had not been quite successful in living a simple life, as he had promised ten years earlier, but had managed to break his own record. Yet the West Indies innings was prolonged well into the third day to enable Lara to reach his 400, and the final result was a stalemate. It set off many voices clamouring about the selfishness of his pursuit of records.

DISPUTES AND DEPARTURE

A rout in England marred the thrill of going past 10,000 runs, but West Indies did achieve a dash of glory under his captaincy when they won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2004. It was the unlikely pair of Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw who steered them home with an unbeaten 71-run partnership for the ninth wicket in the final against England.

However, the next year started with disputes over sponsorship deal. There was prolonged corporate warfare between Cable and Wireless, sponsors of Lara and six other West Indian cricketers, and Digicel, sponsor of the West Indian Cricket Board. When the other rebel players were dropped, Lara refused to lead the side against South Africa. Eventually he did not play the First Test and lost the captaincy to Shivnarine Chanderpaul. However, relieved of responsibility, he scored 196 on his return at St Clair to go past Garry Sobers’ collection of 26 Test centuries. In the next Test at Barbados he hit 176.

Two hundreds followed against Pakistan at home. When West Indies travelled Down Under for the Australian summer of 2005-06, Lara started with a series of ordinary scores, but hit form in his last Test in the country at Adelaide. His 226 took him past Allan Border’s Test match record aggregate.

In April 2006, Chanderpaul resigned from captaincy, and Lara was back at the helm for the third time in his career.

There was the triumph against the Indians in the one-day series, but West Indies lost 1-0 in the Tests. In the decider at Jamaica, Lara seemed more intent on demonstrating his sarcastic applause for groundsman Charlie Joseph rather than sticking around to score the required runs. His tepid surrender at the wicket contrasted sharply with counterpart Rahul Dravid’s exemplary display of application, and it did not really endear him to his followers. Questions about his attitude persisted.

His final foray in Tests came in the away series of Pakistan. It was the standard tale of the great man’s career. Lara amassed scores of 61, 122, 216, 0 and 49, and West Indies were beaten 2-0. The double hundred in his penultimate Test was Lara’s ninth innings of 200 or more. Only Don Bradman with 12 has more.

The following April Lara announced that he would retire from ODIs after the World Cup in West Indies. However, ten days later, with just one match to go for West Indies in the tournament, he revised his announcement and disclosed that he would quit all forms of cricket.

The final journey which could have ended in World Cup glory at home turned out to be another saga of disappointment. West Indies lost five games and won four, and Lara managed just one half-century. The final outing was not memorable either, with Kevin Pietersen knocking down his stumps to run him out for 18. West Indies lost by one wicket with one ball to spare.

A GENIUS IN

DIFFICULT TIMES

Lara’s final figures read 11,953 runs at 52.88, with 34 centuries in Tests and 10,405 at 40.48, with 19 hundreds in ODIs.

While the numbers leave no doubt about his undisputed greatness, his playing style allowed even less room for argument. Comfortable against every form of bowling, Lara, with his prodigious footwork, was arguably the best of his time against champion spin bowlers.

He did have his share of problems while facing Andre Nel, Shane Bond and Andrew Flintoff, but given his record, Michael Holding’s analysis that he struggled against real pace seems rather uncharitable. But, no one questioned his mastery over spin, and he dominated Murali as no one ever did. It is little wonder then that Murali considered Lara the most difficult batsman to bowl to.

Opinions remain divided about the respective claims to the batting throne of Lara and Tendulkar. Lara’s career traversed rare peaks, punctuated by curious lows. In contrast, Tendulkar’s journey had been a constant level of prolonged and sustained brilliance until his slump during the latter stages of his career. There will be advocates of consistency who will vouch for the Indian master, while perhaps others will remain entranced by the heady memories of Lara at the peak of his powers. And while Tendulkar adapted his style to suit his age and managed to prolong his career, Lara played in the same way at 37 as he did when 21. Did his unwillingness to adapt his approach to his age hasten his end?

For a long period, Lara struggled with various problems, a lot of them created by himself. And throughout his superb innings, questions were asked about his commitment to the team’s cause and the relationship with the administrators and fellow players.

In the West Indies, Lara still rules in many cricket-crazy minds, while others swear by the more grounded methods of Chanderpaul. Lara has been accused of being a divisive figure, entrenched in disputes with the board and his mates. It is rumoured that the fortunes of West Indies in quite a few assignments tripped on his immense, reluctant frame.

However, one feels that Lara is misunderstood – as is the fate of every genius touched abundantly by the divine. He entered the fray with the team still reigning over the world and fitted into the dreams of the West Indies as someone to take over the mantle of batting brilliance from Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes.

Yet even as his career graph peaked, matching those great names of the past and even eclipsing them quite often, the strength of the side took a beating. The famed fast-bowling riches of the team dwindled andaged. And until the advent of a rejuvenated Chanderpaul, it was Lara himself who often carried the batting along singlehanded.

Throughout, his great deeds were scripted against the backdrop of disappointment. He had his squabbles, issues built around his own ego. But even as a cricketing superpower became ordinary before sinking to the depths of a near-minnow, spectators in the Caribbean islands and the world over flocked to the ground to watch them because of one name on the scoreboard – Brian Charles Lara.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Lara turns 51 today and the staff at Newsday wishes the ‘Prince of Port of Spain’ a happy birthday.

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