Tony Becca

THURSDAY'S NEWS that Brian Lara had decided to put away his bat was not a surprise and should not have come as one - and certainly not to those close to West Indies cricket. It was on the cards.

A few months ago, Lara said that the World Cup would have been his last one-day tournament and he also said that he would love to continue playing Test cricket, it was almost certain from then that his Test-playing days were numbered.

There are many in West Indies cricket, and some powerful people at that, who believe that West Indies cannot afford two captains and, in my opinion, they are correct.

On top of that, and apart from the fact that many, including selectors and West Indies board members did not want him when he returned for the third time, Lara would certainly, not again, play under anyone.

Always criticised

Things came to a head during the World Cup when, with the expectations so high and the West Indies performing so poorly, Lara was criticised left, right and centre for everything under the sun - for team selection, for the use or non-use of his bowlers, for bowling changes, for the batting order and for simply failing to motivate the players.

In fact, not only was Lara criticised for failing to motivate the players, with so many talking about who he liked and who he did not like, who he spoke to and who he did not speak to, he was also condemned as the reason for the attitude of the players and therefore for their carefree approach to the game.

Lara, it appears, and despite what is said at press conferences and elsewhere, had run out of friends.

It was obvious that the selectors were not going to recommend him as captain for the tour of England. It was obvious that the West Indies board members were not going to support him as the captain. It was apparent that president Ken Gordon was not going to dictate, or be allowed to dictate, this time around, and, based on his history, it was a safe bet that if he was removed as the captain he would also be removed as a member of the team.

What is good about the announcement is that Lara, a great batsman, a great West Indian, a hero of the people, was allowed to say goodbye and was not brushed aside unceremoniously and without due respect.

The truth, the simple truth is tha he was a nice man, and a polite one at that - and definitely so as far as I am concerned - based on his many indiscretions, he was a source of controversy, he certainly did hurt West Indies cricket, and probably because the attack was usually weak during his time, probably because of a gambler's instincts, he was not an outstanding captain.

Greatest WI batsman

As a batsman - pure and simple - however, he is the greatest batsman ever to come out of Trinidad and Tobago and one of the greatest batsmen, if not the greatest batsman, ever to come out of the West Indies and wherever the game is played or has ever been played.

As batsman, Lara, after 131 matches, holds the record, 11,953, for the highest number of runs scored during a career in Test cricket. His 34 centuries is equal to Gavaskar's, is one above Ricky Ponting, and is just one below Sachin Tendulkar's world record of 35. With 375, he once held the world record individual Test score, with 400 not out he holds the world record individual score, and his average of 52.88 is right up there with the best.

As a batsman, after 298 matches -up to start of yesterday's match - Lara had scored 10,387 runs in one-day internationals at a strike rate of 79.38; he had scored 19 centuries and his average of 40.57 is right up there with the best.

On top of that, with 501 not out, he holds the record for the highest total ever in first-class cricket.

For me, however, in my humble opinion, as impressive as they may be, as magnificent as they are, Lara's greatness goes even beyond his runs.

Lara's greatness includes the fact that, almost like George Headley before him, he scored most of his runs on weak teams. He also was as good on bad pitches as he was on good ones; he was as good, as dominant, against great bowlers as he was against weak ones; and while he was not as classy a batsman as say Lawrence Rowe, he was elegant, he was ruthless, and on the go, at his best, he was devastating.

Historic January day

The fans will never forget that January day in 1993 when, in one of the greatest innings of all time, he scored 277 run out against Australia's Craig McDermott and Shane Warne.

On that January day in 1994 against Jamaica when, with Courtney Walsh in the attack, the left-handed genius, going to bat with Trinidad and Tobago on 38 for two, cracked 180 runs as T&T, replying to Jamaica's 217, recovered from 123 for seven to post 257 and went on to win the match.

Also the series in Sri Lanka in 2001/02 when, in six innings, in another losing cause, he scored 178 and 40, 74 and 45, 221 out of 390 and 130 out of 262 against the likes of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.

As far as I am concerned, I will never ever forget, for example, Lara's 145 against England, Angus Fraser, Dominic Cork and company at Old Trafford in 1995. His 213 versus Australia, Glenn McGrath, Warne and company at Sabina Park in 1999 after the West Indies, one down in the series, were reeling at 34 for four in the first innings.

His 153, probably the greatest innings of his life, versus Australia at Kensington Park in 1999 when the West Indies beat Australia by one wicket. And definitely so, his brilliance at the Antigua Recreation Ground when, in the last Test of 1999, Lara went to bat, and smashed 15 fours and three sixes on his way to a 100 off 84 deliveries.

Brian Charles Lara, the Prince of Port-of-Spain, may not have been an outstanding captain. As a batsman, however, he was, in his time, certainly incomparable. He was, like Headley, Gary Sobers and Viv Richards before him, a genius with the bat.