Lara not happy with making the headlines

It’s quite an honour having a stadium named after you, but what happens if the plan goes awry and there’s talk of having it converted into a detention centre? Potentially, that’s what could happen with the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad - the country is currently in a state of emergency and the government, dealing with large numbers of people detained under special laws, is looking for places to inter them. One such place is the stadium - which has led to ‘Lara Jail’ headlines.

That has hurt the man himself and he's come out strongly. “I consider this headline to be totally irresponsible and disrespectful of my family's name," Lara said in a release. "I am now requesting the media to immediately desist from such a reference. [The] offending headline not only brings my name into disrepute, but has had the effect of pushing my name into an area of major contention and controversy where it does not belong.”

Construction of the stadium, which was commissioned for the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, has been at a standstill since 2009 with costs far exceeding the projects’ budget. A tour of the property by government officials in June categorised the stadium a “very feasible” choice to house detainees, but a final decision is yet to be made.