I DON'T care what people want to say, Brian Charles Lara is the greatest batsman of all time.

Sorry, Sir Donald Bradman, but your impeccable record of 29 centuries with an average of 99.94 and a high score of 334 is something of a fairy tale. That wasn't real cricket in the 1930s. It couldn't be. Just trying to convince myself.

But back to earth, a lot of people have been begging for Lara to quit the sport over the years - most of them being the insular Jamaicans. Now that they have got their wish, I hope they have a very good memory, because they will never see the likes of a Brian Charles Lara, live in action in their lifetime again (although I really hope he plays again).

I am indeed fortunate to have see the genius at work, starting from youth level to his first Test century - a splendid 277 against Australia in 1993 to his magnificent 216 against Pakistan in 2006 - his last Test match.

Every now and then a really great West Indian batsman comes along. There was George Headley, then Garfield Sobers, then Viv Richards, then there was Lara. Sorry, but I don't think we will see another one emerging in the next two generations.

Hard to replace

Brian Lara ... thanks for the memories. - File

With a generation being regarded as 25 years, it might take another 50 years or so if we are fortunate to see someone of that mettle of class emerge from the West Indies.

But the narrow-minded Jamaicans got their wishe and Lara was given a 'fight' by the Jamaicans because he fought against Courtney Walsh and Jimmy Adams for the captaincy.

I remembered one year he scored a century against Australia and we lost the Test, andhe was criticised for scoring too fast. No other batsman even passed 30 that day. But Lara was the scapegoat (I don't know why he even bothered scoring that century).

He scored 375 for the world record and 400 to regain it from Matthew Hayden and was told he was selfish. If he dropped any catch while a Jamaican was bowling, "him nuh waan dem get nuh wicket".

Lara couldn't win, but not for me. Let me take you through his career briefly which kept me interested in the game.

Lara has topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds two of the most prestigious records: highest individual innings (400 not out) and the all-time leading runscorer (11,953).

He also holds the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, 501 not out (10x6, 62x4) for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994.

He has the most Test centuries for a West Indian (34) and second most overall behind India's Sachin Tendulkar (35).

Nine of his centuries are double centuries (surpassed only by Bradman), plus one triple and one quadruple.

Great plays

He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations.

Lara has scored an astonishing 20 per cent of his team's runs, a feat surpassed only by Bradman (23 per cent) and George Headley (21 per cent). Lara scored 688 runs (42 per cent) of team output, a record for a series of three or more Tests, and the second highest aggregate runs in history for a three-Test series in the 2001-02 tour of Sri Lanka.

The list goes on and on, but my house doesn't have enough space to highlight all his achievements.

Jamaicans need to put the insularity behind them and realise that we have just lost a gem and it's the end of a remarkable era.

All I can say is thank you, Brian Lara.

This is my House and you are welcome to send your comments to howard.walker@gleanerjm.com.