Lara - 'Nothing to rant and rave about'
Brian Lara has become only the second man after Sir Don Bradman to score two Test triple-centuries, but with the world record back in his sights, his feet were firmly on the ground by the close of the second day in Antigua
Wisden Cricinfo staff
11-Apr-2004
Brian Lara has become only the second man after Sir Don Bradman to score two Test triple-centuries, but with the world record back in his sights, his feet were firmly on the ground by the close of the second day in Antigua.
On the wicket
"It's pretty batsman-friendly out there and it's good for someone to take the opportunity to get runs and get the team runs, but it's not something to rant and rave about. It's a really nice batting track and I would prefer to have seen myself scoring runs in the first three Test matches than taking advantage today and yesterday.
"It's pretty batsman-friendly out there and it's good for someone to take the opportunity to get runs and get the team runs, but it's not something to rant and rave about. It's a really nice batting track and I would prefer to have seen myself scoring runs in the first three Test matches than taking advantage today and yesterday.
On the need to get more runs on the board
"It's important to get the runs we need, we want in excess of 700 and hopefully we can get that as soon as possible. Accolades and milestones will all fall into place at the right time, but it's a series when the ball has dominated the bat and you would have to question if that happened over the last two days."
"It's important to get the runs we need, we want in excess of 700 and hopefully we can get that as soon as possible. Accolades and milestones will all fall into place at the right time, but it's a series when the ball has dominated the bat and you would have to question if that happened over the last two days."
On the prospect of reclaiming his world record
"When Matthew Hayden broke the record I wasn't sad or disappointed. I thought it would be the catalyst for me to get my game together and get the consistency and making a name for myself in other areas. The record will be there in the back of my mind tomorrow and you don't know what may happen but one individual getting a lot of runs is not what West Indies needs right now - they need a team that's playing well and a team that's playing Test cricket at a very competitive level and we are not doing that at the moment."
"When Matthew Hayden broke the record I wasn't sad or disappointed. I thought it would be the catalyst for me to get my game together and get the consistency and making a name for myself in other areas. The record will be there in the back of my mind tomorrow and you don't know what may happen but one individual getting a lot of runs is not what West Indies needs right now - they need a team that's playing well and a team that's playing Test cricket at a very competitive level and we are not doing that at the moment."
On West Indies' prospects for victory
"There is still a lot of time left in the game. There are still three days to go and we will be looking to pile on the runs - I don't know about the individual record but we want to pile on the runs, let the pitch deteriorate a little bit more and see if our bowlers can exploit it. Ten years ago there were only two innings completed so we don't want to take the chance of fielding for three days, we want to apply pressure all the time on England when we go into the field and we will be looking for another 150 to 200 runs if that's possible."
"There is still a lot of time left in the game. There are still three days to go and we will be looking to pile on the runs - I don't know about the individual record but we want to pile on the runs, let the pitch deteriorate a little bit more and see if our bowlers can exploit it. Ten years ago there were only two innings completed so we don't want to take the chance of fielding for three days, we want to apply pressure all the time on England when we go into the field and we will be looking for another 150 to 200 runs if that's possible."