The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Hayden, media salute Lara

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

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Sport - Cricket

Hayden, media salute Lara

LONDON, APRIL 13. His team may have lost the series. But Brian Lara was the toast of world cricket on Tuesday after becoming the first player to score 400 in a Test innings.

The West Indies captain regained the world record from Australia's Matthew Hayden with a stunning batting display against England in Antigua. Hayden, who scored 380 against Zimbabwe, held the record for only six months.

``I sort of had the expectation that he was going to break the record,'' Hayden said on Tuesday. ``He really had it in his sights. He's truly taken it to a new level.''

Hayden said he'd spoken to Lara on the phone to congratulate him for ``a truly amazing effort.''

``I wanted to let him know how appreciative I was when he contacted me in Perth (last October), and I thought it was only appropriate that I pass on my own best wishes to him,'' he said.

Lara had set the previous mark of 375 against England 10 years ago at the same ground at St. John's.

The lefthander also owns the world record for the highest first class score. He scored 501 for Warwickshire against Durham in the 1994 season.

``To break the most famous of all batting record once might conceivably be ascribed to good fortune,'' said The Times of London. ``To do it twice is proof of pure genius.''

The paper described his innings as ``a work of art by the most gloriously gifted batsman of our time.''

The Daily Telegraph said that one of Lara's most impressive skills was his ability to keep making shots for such a long period. His innings lasted 13 hours spread over three days.

``Brian Lara is a cricketer who makes magic,'' the Telegraph said. ``The surprise is how long he remains able to sustain it.''

Tributes from the

Indian team

Our Special Correspondent adds from Rawalpindi:

Lara's effort was lauded by his great Indian rival Sachin Tendulkar. "It's an amazing achievement. He's one of the best batsmen of my generation, if not the best ever. Such an innings can never be planned. It just happens,'' he said.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly was also lavish in his praise for the Trinidadian. "Great knock. I was not going to be surprised, if he reached 400. When he is in full flow, there is no better sight in world cricket.''

Pakistan coach Javed Miandad said Lara showed great resolve in seeing his record break, and then grabbing it back. He, however, added that the conditions were helpful for batting and any of the top three batsmen in world cricket, Tendulkar, Hayden or Ponting could have done the same, had they batted in similar conditions.

Lara's family celebrates

Lara's family watched his world record cricket score on a TV they set up outside his childhood home to celebrate with friends and neighbours on Monday. Antiguans erupted in joy at the achievement of the man they call the ``Prince of Port-of-Spain.''

``Brian always had an appetite for big things,'' said one of his six brothers, Winston Lara, 51.

The modest brick-and-cement home where Lara grew up as the youngest son of a government agriculture officer and a housewife — both of whom have died — turned into a party as Lara reclaimed the record.

Drivers blew their horns and blared local soca music on the dusty streets of Cantaro where Lara as a kid batted with coconut tree branches. Cantaro has since named a playing field after its favourite son, with a picture of him batting mounted on the sign.

Villagers remembered Lara, who was taken to a cricket clinic by his sister Agnes when he was seven, as intensely competitive, even as a boy.

``When Lara was a young boy, he used to cry because he was out,'' private contractor Roger Carimbocas, 42, said.

At 15, Lara was playing under-19 cricket, and at 18 he was captain of the West Indies Under-23 side. The following year, 1988, he led West Indies at the Youth World Cup.

``The man was a perfect cricketer from when he was a baby,'' said car mechanic Freddie Gordon, 52.

Lara now lives in a palatial house on a hill in Trinidad's capital, and still visits Cantaro frequently, stopping for a beer at the Valley Bar and spending time with family, locals said.

At the tiny barroom around the corner from his childhood home, patrons were hoisting beer and glasses of rum, hugging each other, and holding a portrait of Lara in the air.

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