Brian Lara Retires
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I never paid much attention to Brian Lara or to cricket for that matter till the Government proclaimed a national holiday in honour of Lara’s 277 against Australia in Sydney. I didn’t know the first thing about cricket back then, but I was grateful to anyone who made it possible for me to miss a day of school. It was only after that that I became interested in Brian Lara or cricket for that matter. After all, if this man has such an influence on whether or not I have to go to school, I had better pay attention to him.
And so my entire cricketing experience has always included Lara. It’s because of Lara that the numbers 277, 375, 400 and 501 bring me immense pride. If I started watching a Windies game late, the question that always needed asking was, “Has Lara batted yet?”. 76-3 means very little if Lara still hadn’t batted. Century, double century, no problem. Hayden took his record away? No big deal, he’ll get it back. See what I told you? I told you he could do it.
I’ll tell you something, starting to watch cricket when Lara was king was probably the worst thing any newbie could do.
And now, for someone who has equated cricket with Lara their entire life, there is a huge deficit where Lara once stood at the crease, stood in the slips, and directed men around the field. News of his retirement hit me like an unexpected death. Now that he has retired, I feel abandoned. It’s almost like I was led into a great, big forest and left for dead. Of course through Lara I have gained a great respect for the game and an admiration for other players, but I was brought to this place by Lara and it’s kind of hard trying to imagine staying here without the man.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m overreacting and maybe it will all be OK when the tour of England begins, but it definitely won’t be the same.
5 Responses to “Brian Lara Retires”
By Dre on Apr 23, 2007 | Reply
i have similar sentiments about the loss of Lara. WI Cricket will have to take a note out of the NBA’s marketing books to deal with this loss similar to Jordan’s loss. If they (WICB) have a book to begin with
By IZATRINI.com on Apr 24, 2007 | Reply
Mani my love of cricket also began with Lara’s record breaking moments. I feel lost knowing that he will no longer be on the field giving all West Indies fans the same joy as he has in the past.
He will truly be missed in WI cricket.
By D Trini in Me on Apr 26, 2007 | Reply
I loved Lara in the old days when he did his thing and enjoy doing it. I think he it was time for him to retire. He made us proud.
By Mani on May 1, 2007 | Reply
Dre, I think the Windies will be a little lost actually.
Yuh see Izatrini how much Lara affect all ah we?
D trini, I coula ah really take on Lara scoring a century at Lords yuh know, but i don’t think it was time for him to go yet man.
By Anonymous on May 18, 2007 | Reply
on 21st april 2007 i too retired from watching cricket.it was a horrible day for cricket when the greatest batsman of modren era retired from the game.very few people have paid attention to the fact that he was gonna be dropped for england’s tour because the team management wanted to make sarwan feel confident.that’s why he suddenly decided to retire .
abdul manan from pakistan