Legendary left-hander Brian Lara has recounted how the storied meeting with two close friends in the wee hours of the final day of the third Test against Australia in 1999 here, helped propel West Indies to an historic win, as he urged the region to find collective resolve to fight the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
“I woke up at 4 am the next morning and called one Nicholas Gomez, my former captain at Fatima College, who travelled to Jamaica [for the second Test] to give me the support he knew I needed a week earlier and he made his way to Barbados as well,” Lara told followers.
“And he and one Hugh Scott (Trinidadian friend) joined me in my room around 4:30 am and from that point, we planned our innings against the Australians.”
He continued: “From start to water break from water break to lunch, from lunch to water break to tea until we got that total. [My approach was] take it easy against the fast bowlers; see them out. You’re better against the spinners, you can attack the spinners, take the chance against the spinners and you’re going to get it done.”
What unfolded on the final day was perhaps the finest Test innings ever seen. Unbeaten on two overnight, the genius Trinidadian clinically set about dismantling the Aussie attack with the artistry of a virtuoso but the precision of a surgeon.
“And he and one Hugh Scott (Trinidadian friend) joined me in my room around 4:30 am and from that point, we planned our innings against the Australians.”
He continued: “From start to water break from water break to lunch, from lunch to water break to tea until we got that total. [My approach was] take it easy against the fast bowlers; see them out. You’re better against the spinners, you can attack the spinners, take the chance against the spinners and you’re going to get it done.”
What unfolded on the final day was perhaps the finest Test innings ever seen. Unbeaten on two overnight, the genius Trinidadian clinically set about dismantling the Aussie attack with the artistry of a virtuoso but the precision of a surgeon.
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