Lara's World

It's Brian Lara's world, we're all just observing it.

A day after journalists around the world openly questioned whether the left-hander could provide one last hurrah in what could be his final Test appearance on Aussie soil, Lara answered like only he can; with a dominating double century that puts him just 11 runs short of another elite batting record.

As expected, Lara's unbeaten 202 -- which pushed the tourists to a first day score of 352 for 7 -- is the talk of the town.

Wisden Cricinfo's bulletin by S Rajesh is celebratory , describing the knock as "an innings of stunning class and vintage majesty."

Rajesh writes: "[W]hen the leg-spinners tossed it high and wide, Lara took the bait, crashing the drives either side of cover; when they drifted towards leg, the sweep shot - including a single-handed one - did the trick. As the confidence returned, so did the ability to pick the gaps and make use of the short boundaries square of the wicket. When Brett Lee returned for his second spell, he was greeted with a scorching square-drive - little footwork but all flourish - and then a pull shot which brought him his hundred."

Peter Roebuck, the former Somerset captain who pens a syndicated column for several Australian papers, described how the Trinidadian maestro paced his innings with singles and sharp running between the wicket.

"The runs came along in trickles that forecast the flood. Lara's first 80 runs contained only five boundaries. He was not in any particular hurry. Like most great players, though, he has an acute sense of the game's ebbs and flows," Roebuck wrote.

BBC Sport's first day coverage highlights the fact that Lara has become only the second player in Test cricket history to score 11,000 runs. He is now only 11 runs behind Test record holder Allan Border, who plundered 11,174 runs in 265 innings.

Lara himself is quoted in the BBC piece: "I knew this was just around the corner. I was ready and really looking forward to this Test. I've been batting for 15 to 16 years in Test cricket, anybody who spends that sort of time and is any sort of a decent batsman is going to be in and around certain records."

Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald, also provides a few quotes from Lara:

"I've never come to these shores and left without a hundred," Lara said. "I had a lot of confidence in this particular match and I was happy to end the day not just on a hundred but a double hundred and I feel good about it.

"I think it's testimony to the fact I have [had] 15, 16 years playing Test cricket. I've had my ups and downs, many hurdles to cross but I'm still here, still fighting and still playing with a team that's trying."

The Courier-Mail's Richard Earle describes Lara as a "Caribbean magician."

"He lifted the Windies with a mixture of gifted stroke play and smart cricket that seems to come so naturally whenever he graces the historic venue and respectful Adelaide crowd," Earle wrote.

In the Jamaica Observer, Bernard Julien is quoted as saying that Lara still about two years of international cricket left in him.

"I still think Lara can still play for a year or two. He's past his best and the really quick bowlers, he's going to get a bit of trouble with them. But the fact that it is over (for Lara), it's not like that at all. He still has a couple of years left in him."

West Indies fans will have to wait at least one day to get Tony Cozier's report on Lara's heroics.

However, in today's Stabroek News, Cozier zeroes in on Ramnaresh Sarwan's disappointing tour, and argues that the Guyanese right-hander must pull up his socks and bat with a sense of responsibility.

"It was not so much Sarwan's low scores in his six innings on tour (the highest his 37 against Queensland). Any batsman can have a run of poor form or bad luck or both as Brian Lara can attest. It was the method of Sarwan's dismissals that were the worry," Cozier said.

"Carelessness bordering on unconcern too often brought his downfall."

Oh, by the way, the 2005 Carib Beer starts today and Tony Becca is not a happy camper.

In a column for today's Jamaica Gleaner, the veteran scribe is dismissive of the West Indies Cricket Board's decision to cut the tournament in half.

Becca writes: "In this day and age the West Indies team will never ever be strong again unless West Indies cricket is strong, West Indies cricket will never ever be strong again unless, and on top of everything else, the game at the first-class level is strong, and it will never ever be strong if the first-class tournament is limited to 20 days per team per season."

"Money or no money, it is as simple as that."

The Jamaica Observer's Garfield Myers provides a preview of the Jamaica/Leewards match, which starts today at Kensington Park in east Kingston.

It appears that Jamaica will be banking on spin with left arm finger spinner Nikita Miller expected to join right arm wrist-spinner Odean Brown and off-spinner Gareth Breese in the final eleven.

Myers notes that the Jamaican selectors have also given themselves the option of playing three fast bowlers - having named Jerome Taylor, Andrew Richardson and Dwight Washington in their 13.

At the Everest Cricket Club ground in Guyana, the home side will take on Barbados.

Vemen Walter, writing in the Guyana Chronicle, notes that both team will be missing several top players, a situation that provides an "ideal opportunity" for a number of talented youngsters.

"Having known to be fierce competitors, Guyana and Barbados always produced impeccable battles ever since the advent of Regional First Class cricket in the West Indies, way back in 1966 and this match should be no exception," Walter writes.

A CMC piece published on the WindiesCricket.com Web site provides news that former West Indies Test players - Bernard Julien and Raphick Jumadeen - have been named on the senior selection panel of the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board.

In several major shake-ups by the new executive of the T&TCB, headed by Deryck Murray, Julien and Jumadeen have replaced former T&T all-rounder Roland Sampath and former West Indies wicketkeeper/batsman David Williams.

Former Young West Indies captain Dudnath Ramkessoon will remain chairman of the senior selection panel. Sampath however, was also removed as a member of the Young T&T selection committee of which he was chairman. He has been replaced by Lalman Kowlessar, who will be chairman of the panel.