( L - R ) LARA AND WAUGH
BRISBANE, Australia, CMC:
EVEN WHEN he is keeping a low profile, Brian Lara remains a subject of obsession in Australian cricket and media circles.
While the West Indies' star batsman was practising with his teammates at Allan Border Field over the weekend, former Australian captain Steve Waugh released his latest book, 'Out of My Comfort Zone', excerpts of which are appearing in the country's national newspapers.
In one of those excerpts, highlighted in yesterday's edition of 'The Australian', Waugh claims that a verbal confrontation with Lara during the Antigua Test of 2003 could have become physical, but for the intervention of English umpire David Shepherd.
According to Waugh's account of the incident, Lara, while batting during his team's pursuit of a world record target of 418, initiated the exchange by lashing out at the then Australian skipper for not walking when the West Indies thought he was out during the first innings.
According to the book, Waugh responded by suggesting that while he never walked, Lara was a convenient 'walker', doing so only when it suited him.
Subsequently, a concerted but unsuccessful appeal for a catch behind prompted Waugh, who was fielding at short mid-on, to remind Lara of what he had said earlier.
Describing the left-hander's reaction as similar to Glenn McGrath's heated exchange with Ramnaresh Sarwan later that same day - "it seemed an alien took control of his being".
SHOUTING MATCH
Waugh said he and Lara engaged in a short-range shouting match until the Trinidadian came within inches of him, prompting Shepherd's intervention.
In the book, Waugh describes Lara as "charming, vulnerable, endearing, moody and impossible to work out at times, and endlessly fascinating".
Despite the confrontation and the highly-publicised clash between McGrath and Sarwan, Waugh said the series, which Australia won 3-1, "was the most pleasant I'd seen between the two sides, with regular sharing of cricket information and advice in the change rooms at the end of the day".
Despite losing the captaincy to Shivnarine Chanderpaul earlier this year in the midst of the protracted team sponsorship dispute, Lara remains the immediately identifiable face of West Indies cricket here, with even a promotional brochure put out by the Queensland Bulls urging fans to come out and see the home side taking on "Brian Lara's West Indies team".
With the four-day fixture beginning at Allan Border Field on Thursday as their only warm-up match ahead of the first Test at The Gabba a week later, the tourists are likely to field a virtual Test 11 against a full-strength Bulls outfit that includes opening batsman Matthew Hayden and all-rounder Shane Watson, both of whom are expected to be in the Australian team for the opening encounter of the three-match series.
After arriving in Brisbane on Thursday under grey skies and persistent showers, improved weather conditions have allowed the tourists to have intensive all-day training sessions at Allan Border Field since Saturday.
The strenuous routine will continue until tomorrow as head coach Bennett King and the rest of his technical staff seek to get the squad ready for a series in which they are massive underdogs.
However, the weather could throw a spanner in the works as Brisbane experienced severe thunderstorms late last night that drenched the city.
More showers are forecast for today while longer term predictions suggest that both the four-day match and the Test could be affected by the elements.
