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Legendary West Indies batsman, Brian Lara, has pointed to a performance that emanated from one of the uglier, darker moments of a largely sparkling career as one of his most memorable.

During a tumultuous period for the Windies, the issue for some home fans stemmed from what they believed to be disrespect shown to bowling legend Courtney Walsh in what they deemed to be a hostile takeover of the captaincy by the Trinidadian.  Walsh, who was appointed captain in 1994, served as captain for 22 Test matches before being replaced by Lara in 1998.  On the back of a heavy loss to Australia in the first Test and having also previously been whitewashed by South Africa, The Prince found himself occupying the unusual status of public enemy.

His response, a classy, shot-filed 213, which would go on to underpin a massive 10 wicket win at Sabina Park to level the series, it must be said, went a long way in lightening the mood.

“Everyone says the 153 was second maybe to Sir Don Bradman’s (Against England at Melbourne in 1936-1937), maybe post-war, one of the better innings, but a week before that I was in Jamaica where we played against Australia in that second Test match,” Lara told 7Cricket.

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Lara the Legend!!
Notwithstanding that Walsh was the most gracious and humble captain, in making way for Lara, and supported Lara’s captaincy!

Courtney Walsh was and is one of the greatest of West Indians.

In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com
LARA - The greatest batsman the West Indies has produced; the worst captain the West Indies has endured.

The prince can’t catch a break from savvy fans rightfully perception...

In reply to rhatid

The last west indian skipper to NOT lose a series to Australia, the first WI skipper in 25 years to win an ICC tournament......yeah sure
Cant be worse than holder or gayle or sammy or hooper

Natty never was one.

In reply to Jumpstart

They saying Sammy 2 WC wins Trumps Biden.

So this post is moving into the direction of real mentally enslaved people: We are now comparing our past stars and captains and bringing them down to prove points.

People please all the player mentioned here are retired and they deserve our respect or if you can't show that, just stay quiet.

Even the damn article is old news and it is out of context, not sure why the media outlet only publish a small part and out of context tidbit.

But it is old news people, just move on.

In reply to Emir

Who made you the village lawyer?

In reply to rhatid

No ulterior motive here, what makes Lara

In reply to JoeGrine
Any batsman who broke Garry Sobers' long-standing record of 365, then had his record broken by another batsman, then went back and broke that man's record again, while possessing the record for the most runs in first class cricket, is the greatest batsman in my book. There is no dispute that he has achieved what every other batsman aims for - the accumulation of runs. He wasn't the prettiest, not the most elegant, not the most stylish to watch, but I don't know of any batsman who would trade what he has achieved for prettiness, elegance and style. Do you? But he lacked the requisite temperament of a good captain. He was cantankerous, mean-spirited, argumentative, selfish and arrogant. So he wasn't a good captain....not even a great cricketer. As far as the game is concerned, he was one-dimensional. Just the greatest batsman.

In reply to natty_forever

The former poster "Black" aka "Sgtjones"

In reply to rhatid

Firstly.....it cant be that you are saying Brian Charles Lara was not the great stylist of the 90s and 2000s because obviously that is the rantings of a mad man. Kumar Sangakara once said he would trade his 13000 rums in tests just so he could bat like Lara. I have never heard of lara being mean spirited. You need to get your head out of whatever OECS malaise you are stuck in and listen to facts. Ridley Jacobs said lara was selfish in 2005 only fo come back last year and tell a radio station that lara always consulted the senior players( himself included and compiled it and made a decision). Pedro Collins sais Lara was normal and didn't behave like he was some big boy after playing the greatest innings in history. The only complaint i have heard about lara was that he campaigned for the cappo position and that sometimes he was distant. Lara's problem was like all geniuses, he could not understand why the mortals around him could not reach the lofty heights he reached. Viv had that problem too. He just had a better team.Both Sarwan and Chanderpaul have come out and said that Lara helped them when they faced great bowlers. You need meds yes

In reply to rhatid

Dude, what are you smoking man? Lara was one of the most elegant and stylish batsmen to ever grace the game!

In reply to brians_da_best

Old weed dais what

In reply to VoopsandOut

I was at that math for every ball

In reply to rhatid

You are clueless - that is all

In reply to Chrissy
I too was at that match watching from the then Red Stripe mound being surrounding by a big crowd of Australians and to me that was Lara's most responsible innings. I am glad I was there because I heard people saying things about that innings that didn't happen, what makes the innings great to me was his sound defence and being able to capitalize on any mistake the bowlers made

In reply to Coldlikeice

what also makes that innings great is the way he manipulated fields set by probably the most tactical captain after richards to protect the tail.....ambrose and walsh. Lara did things that had not been done and will never be done again in that innings. Kusal and Stokes innings come out of the t20 era because they bashed the opposition until they reached the target. There was not much farming of the strike. Lara however farmed the strike: hit a four and a single, gave ambrose a ball to face. And that went on for close to an hour. And the only time walsh had to face any bowling was when Ambrose had been dismissed and he had to face a ball from Mcgrath(turned out to be two because Mrgath's first ball was a wide that went to second slip) and when the game was already tied to gillespie. A magnificent inswinger which somehow walsh managed to keep out. Is 60+ runs he make with ambrose and walsh yuh know....ambrose scored 12 of those

In reply to Jumpstart
Simply put, Lara was a run machine and he didn't care how he looked getting these runs. And nothing is wrong with that. (Remember the line by Woody Haralson to Westley Snipes in the movie "White Men Cant Jump"? Well that line doesn't apply to Lara) And it's the same way he was a captain hog and he didn't care how he looked getting it.
That statement you attributed to Kumar Sangakara is so nonsensical. Batting like Lara means making runs like Lara.
And by the way, forgive me for not knowing that Pedro Collins was a psychologist.
My observation has not been refuted. I still maintain, Lara is the best batsman and worst captain the West Indies has produced.

In reply to rhatid

Again i ask.....What drugs u on hoss?If brian didn't care about how it looke he would have averaged 70....an ugly 70 but 70 none the less.. Steve Waugh, lara's biggest rival conceeded that he never saw Lara score an ugly hundred

Link Text
And steve waugh is probably the least gracious cricketer in the history of the sport.



well the record says otherwise



And you didn't see anybody refute what you said because it seems words make you sleepy. read my first contribution in its entirety


Rahtid is marlon samuels.....im convinced. only he have this circular, insipid reasoning that nobody except him understands

First Gavaskar..now Lara..about the Jamaican crowd behavior..hmmm

In reply to Khaga

Ignore this troll please......crowds in gavaskar's country wanted to kill the SL team for simply winning. I cannot think of any thing more absurd. Why you always have to trivialize serious matters with sprinklings of racist rhetoric? Are you 3? And is it not the gyanese crowd that rioted for WSC in the caribbean and invaded the 1999 match versus australia which cost the WI a series clinching win?

We all need to jump on Rhatid. Lara was an equisite stylist. You can say what you want about his character (and most of it would probably be wrong anyway because he is also a really genuinely nice person) but no real cricket lover would miss a chance to see Lara batting especially if it is against a team he loves to hate like England or Australia.

In reply to Jumpstart

We seem to be arguing over something we agree on. LARA IS THE BEST BATSMSAN THE WEST INDIES HAS PRODUCED. So I guess the disagreement is over his captaincy. And my argument has not been refuted. Refuting an argument does not just mean attempting to prove the argument wrong. You have to successfully show that it is wrong. You have not. LARA IS THE WORST CAPTAIN THE WEST INDIES HAS PRODUCED. Argument done!

In reply to rhatid

Agree on all of the above.

The game is a team sport and to be considered great one's contribution on the team must lead to team success. The argument that he was always playing on a weak team does not hold. That is what great players do, they find ways to lift their teammates and get the team to succeed.

Great batsman yes ... no argument there

Indeed the greatest WI batsman and one of the greatest of all time,when he was there anything was possible...

In reply to Kay

parasites and viruses always want to be lifted. Did Chanderpaul lift this shit of a people?

In reply to Kay
"The game is a team sport and to be considered great one's contribution on the team must lead to team success. The argument that he was always playing on a weak team does not hold. That is what great players do, they find ways to lift their teammates and get the team to succeed."
2004 champion trophy, who won? Who was the captain?

In reply to Kay

You're right........which is why Australia, the n1 team in the world did not whitewash us in 199which is what everybody expected. Because lara, a great player, found a way to score 600 + runs at an avg of 91. What an insipid statement!

I have read of a few Trini players who were jeered for no specific reason,maybe it was because of who they were.No one told me that,I read it.

In reply to granite

Not surprising. You hearing the ridiculousness on this thread? A man calling brian lara a one dimensional player and not great simply because he was ONLY a great batsman........and the moronic Kay says he/she fully agrees with him

In reply to Jumpstart

Australia whitewashed you in 2000

In reply to Jumpstart
It's all a bit of anti Trini sentiments,when people talk shyte like that what can you say,whoever said that Lara was "one dimensional"is a dimwit.

In reply to Khaga

And lara still scored a hundred......the only player WI player on tour that did.

In reply to Jumpstart

Wasn't that the series in which he was part of a McGrath hattrick?

In reply to Khaga

And that diminishes him how? Mcgrath has over 500 wickets at an average of just over 21.......only bowlers with 200 wickets and a lower average are ambrose, garner and marshall