Is Lara the Greatest WI Batsman?

In the last year, Brian Lara has been demeaned and demonized in a destructive conflict that all but destroyed everything that West Indies cricket stood for during the last sixty-five years. Locked in a bitter dispute, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) traded punches with their bare knuckles and at times forgot the rules of decency and professionalism.

Unanswered questions about the targeting of Lara are still on the lips of many West Indians. Some people claim that he was regarded as an obstacle to change and that the numerous attacks on him were designed to get him out of the way in order to speed up the implementation of the new cricket agenda.

During the crisis, some people lost touch with reality. Irrationality and stupidity became the order of the day. For example, a prominent member of the West Indies cricket management team is reported to have said that if Lara were dropped, he would not be missed, because the West Indies team had just beaten Bangladesh without him. This sort of "nonsense thinking" is not unusual during heated and prolonged conflicts.

I have always said that Garfield Sobers was the best batsman that I had ever seen. But, after observing Lara at close range during the last five years that verdict has changed. I would now say that Lara is on par with Sobers, and if I were pressed to choose between them, I would come down on the side of Lara.

I believe that Sobers was a better player of fast bowling but Lara surpassed him in dealing with spin bowling. None other than Shane Warne recently said that Lara is the most destructive player he has seen. I believe that Muttiah Muralitharan would echo similar sentiments. I also believe that Lara's powers of concentration, his greatest asset, is better.

Sobers and Lara were both mentally strong. This is what separates them from other players. One only has to look at the manner in which Lara conducted himself in the last few weeks to see that strength. He failed miserably in the World XI matches against Australia and in the first two West Indies tests against Australia.

The recipient of some bad umpiring decisions, he never complained. Instead, he used his failures and his criticisms to motivate himself to bat better and concentrate harder during the game. His double century at Adelaide is testament to this.

Rafer Johnson the Olympic Decathalon champion once said: "What gave me the biggest thrill was the way I reacted when I was beaten ? what I thought about when I was beaten and how I came back from defeat. The measure of a true champion is the way he bounces back from failure and defeat. It is more beneficial to get into the head of someone who has lost to see what made that person come back as a victor, than to climb into the head of a winner." Lara has been down and out, and written off, on several occasions during his career. But, each time he has come back stronger.

Sobers once told me that the only pressure he could not handle well was the pressure that came from jealousies, divisions and infighting in the team. Parallel to this was pressure from the administration. Just think of the divisive pressures within the West Indies team and the enormous pressures from the Board that Lara has had to face. But Lara has learned how to manage these types of pressure well. One only has to look at his performances under those conditions to see evidence of this.

Lara has achieved much in his career. He has the records for the highest scores in Test cricket and first class cricket and has just become the highest scorer in Test cricket. Let us recognize him for his genius and praise him for his outstanding achievements.

He deserves it.

* Rudi Webster is best known as a mental skills coach who influenced the careers of such players as Viv Richards, Greg Chappell, Brian Lara and a host of other champions from other sports, including golf superstar, Greg Norman.