The King Rose Again

Colin Croft described him as a con man. Mikey Holding wanted Sarwan to replace him as captain. And Tony Cozier was hopeful that he would give up his captaincy by the end of the current series.

The Bajans said both he and Logie, should be fired and the Guyanese were confident that Sarwan or Chanderpaul could do a better job. In all fairness to the people here in Trinidad and Tobago, they stood by him, knowing that every genius had their moments of fallibility.

And me?

I just knew that every great man who walked this earth had their crosses to bear and that Brian Charles Lara, was no different.

They had him buried, you know, under an avalanche of criticism.

The Judases and Peters, who are all now singing praises to him, were waiting - like vultures, hoping for another whipping in the final Test, so that they could perform their last rites.

Lara gone, Amen!

And so it came to pass that the King rose again on Easter Monday. The pressures, negativities and doubts that surrounded his life in the last four weeks thawed out like ice, with each mounting run from zero to 400.

The men of little faith counted and counted...and then counted again.

What they never counted on was that at the end of the series, a reputation built on talent, guts and determination, would still be intact.

The men of great faith countered.

Sir Viv backed him to come good! Sir Gary, God Bless him, was there to offer solace and Clive Lloyd called him on the eve of this final Test to remind him of Australia 1975, when West Indies lost the series 5-1.

And me? I simply told him that West Indies cricket today revolves and evolves around Brian Charles Lara, and that the only way that the team will do well was when he was doing well.

Get fit, physically and mentally and things will fall in place.

To bear the burden that he has to carry requires Herculean strength, particularly when included in that baggage is heavyweights such as Croft, Holding and company.

They want him to give up the captaincy to anybody 'anybody is better than Brian Lara,' Croft was quick to shout to anyone who cares to listen.

I want Croft or Holding to tell me of any captain they know to have beaten world champions Australia on three occasions in Test matches in the last five years.

Barring India's Ganguly, there is only one! I am sure Croft and Holding both know who that is.

And if the truth be told, Lara might very well have made a century in every one of the matches in this series if he didn't have the pressures of captaincy on his shoulders.

That he has accepted to lead this team demonstrates a selfless approach by the world's greatest batsman.

It would be a great relief if his critics could give him some breathing space and the right to demonstrate his expertise in this area.

Of Croft, I won't be Holding my breath!

* This column first appeared in the Trinidad Guardian newspaper.