So long, Brian
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan
25-Feb-2013
AFP
The joy of Brian Lara's batting was tempered by his inability to succeed as captain, writes Greg Baum in The Age, a Melbourne-based daily.
In The Daily Telegraph former England seamer Derek Pringle salutes the greatest batsman of this generation.
Ricky Ponting may have the bigger Test average and Sachin Tendulkar the larger fan base, but Lara has won more matches, more often, and always with more style than any of his closest rivals.
The Times' Christopher Martin-Jenkins writes that Lara’s special talent has been to combine remorseless efficiency with an ability to be constantly entertaining.
Robert Craddock, writing in the Courier-Mail, looks at the career of Lara, a player the Australians rated incredibly highly.
No lesser judge than Steve Waugh, once asked which batsmen he enjoyed watching the most, didn't even have to contemplate the question before answering "Lara". "He tries to play the same cavalier way no matter what the conditions and even though its almost impossible to pull off you have to admire him for trying," Waugh said.
Also read Cricinfo's tribute: Rahul Bhattacharya on the last king of Trinidad.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan is a former assistant editor at Cricinfo