THE CURRENT West Indies captain made international headlines for two reasons in the recently-concluded Test cricket against England, one good, one bad.
Captaining the team for the second time around - he also led them between 1997 and 1999 - he presided over what some people see as a debacle. This was the first time that the Windies had lost a Test series in the Caribbean in 37 years. To make matters worse, the team did not exactly go down fighting, practically being routed in two of the tests, ending the first, played at Sabina Park in Jamaica, all out for the grand total of 47 runs. This comes after a 5-0 whitewash against South Africa while touring that country, also with Lara as captain.
On the other hand, he single-handedly managed to remove some of the bad taste from the mouths of his fans by scoring 400 runs not out in Antigua in the fourth and final Test, reclaiming the world record from Australia's Matthew Hayden, who scored 380 against Zimbabwe six months ago, breaking what was Lara's record, at the time, in the process. This saw a return to form after what had been a poor run during the first three Tests.
He is a left-handed batsman with an impressive ability to build massive innings, many at times when they are needed the most. Lara is also the world record holder for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994. In addition, he is the second player to score two Test innings of more than 300, the first being Australian legend Sir Donald Bradman. Two such innings came in 1993, when he scored 200 and 153 in two Tests to ensure a series draw. Of course, who could forget his debut century in Sydney, Australia, 1993, when he went on to make 277 in what many describe as one of the greatest innings of all time?
One of 11 children in Santa Cruz, Trinidad, Lara's cricketing career began while at school at Fatima College in Trinidad. That is where his immense talent started to be unearthed, when, at the age of 14, playing in the Under-16 and First Divisions of national schoolboys' cricket, he scored 745 runs an average of 126.16 per innings. After selection to and playing for his national team, he was named captain of the West Indies B team for a series against Zimbabwe and then, in March 1989, as a part of the West Indies Under-23 XI against the Indians scored 182 in St. Kitts. Selected to the West Indies squad as 12th man a month later, he also suffered the death of his father.
DEBUT
Making his debut as a member of the team against Pakistan followed, a match in which he scored 44 in 1990. This was after being in the squad for a while but utilised mostly for one day internationals. Not too long after, Australia and that 277 cemented his place in the team and the world record of 375 made him an even bigger star than he already was.
Of course, there have been downs, with Lara being accused of being arrogant, there were the unique wage negotiations when he and Carl Hooper held out in London, incidents which raised the ire of cricket fans, such as bringing his girlfriend to practice, but at the end of the day, his astonishing talent is what really matters. Lara is already a living legend, and if we are lucky enough, will preside over the return of West Indies cricket to its former greatness.
