Brian Charles Lara was the last in a prestigious line of West Indian batsmen that lit up the cricketing world, playing the game with genius and intellect and combining natural ability with hard work to attain all of the sports’ batting records.

The young Lara honed his skills at the legendary Harvard coaching clinic, prior to refining them at Fatima College, where his season average of 126 served as a precursor of the record-breaking talent that would emerge as the finished product from the famous Queens Park Oval. This trajectory coincided with his natural ascension through the Trinidad and Tobago national teams and then the West Indies youth team. In 1990, Lara became T&T’s youngest captain at the age of 20, tasting team success in the Geddes Grant tournament and then making his debut for the much-vaunted West Indies senior squad against Pakistan later that year. It did not take long for his appetite for runs to manifest itself; against Australia, in only his fifth Test match, he scored a career defining, series-saving 277. As the world took notice, the left handed phenomenon raised his game even further in 1994 by scoring 375 to surpass Sir Garfield Sobers’ long standing highest Test score of 365 n.o, then remarkably besting the record for the highest first-class score with 501 not out for his county team Warwickshire against Durham. Warwickshire, with Lara in their ranks, would finish the English season with 3 trophies out of a possible four.

Lara has held the captaincy of the West Indies on three occasions through varying fortunes of the regional team however he has led from the front through his tactics, fielding, conduct and of course batting; the two most memorable occasions being the 1999 Test series versus Australia, where his 546 runs led the way to an unexpected drawn result. The second instance of his leadership reaping reward occurred when he lifted the gloom of a hurricane-hit Caribbean by leading the Windies to victory in the ICC Trophy in 2004.

The achievements of this Caribbean sportsman would be impossible to list in this space but consider that one year into his retirement he holds all the significant batting records, even reclaiming the highest Test score (the only man to do so) in 2004. There is also the often over-looked statistic of his 52.89 test batting average which is the highest of any West Indian since the retirement of Sir Garfield Sobers in the early 1970s. Add to this the most Test runs ever amassed with 11,953 runs and the most runs in a Test over (28) and one recognises the esteem with which he IS held the world over. That high regard has led to his appointment as an Ambassador for Sport for Trinidad & Tobago as well as being awarded the country’s highest honour the Trinity Cross. An honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield was offered and accepted in 2006. Further, in July 2008, Lara will receive the highest accolade bestowed by the Caribbean region, the Order of the Caribbean Community.

Brian has also set up the Pearl and Bunty Lara Foundation, a significant organisation named in honour of his parents, which aims to address both health care and social issues. The organisation continues to grow, making great strides in its endeavour to achieve its aims.

 

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