Lara to quit international cricket
West Indies captain Brian Lara has announced his retirement from international cricket.
Dileep Premachandran in Barbados
19-Apr-2007
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After days of scathing criticism and ceaseless innuendo, the penny finally
dropped. "I gave extensive consideration to this," said Brian Lara. "I
want everybody to know that on Saturday I'll be playing my last
international match. I've already spoken to the board and the players
about this." It was a fairly routine press conference at the end of a
insignificant game, but the answer to the last question caused even the
most tired journalist to look up from his notepad.
And with that, it was over. He stopped to sign a few autographs - jaded
hacks too aren't immune from the spell cast by his batting - and then
walked away through the side door. Though there will be nothing at stake
on Saturday when two frankly mediocre teams play for nothing more than
pride, the stands could be packed as fans flock in to pay their own
tributes to the prince among modern-day batsmen.
Ever since West Indies were ruled out of semi-final contention earlier in
the week, speculation has been rife that Lara wouldn't be part of the Test
squad to England. For a man who has carried the team piggyback for so much
of his career, it would have been an unkind cut, one that he was clearly
in no mood to take.
When asked to rake over the pieces of yet another ill-fated World Cup
campaign, Lara refused to dwell on "spilt milk". "We've got to move on and
focus on the future," he said.
His one-day career will end at 299 games, and he won't now add to the 131
Tests and 11,953 runs he scored in Test cricket. "I was very confident
that I'd play my 300th game at the World Cup," he said. "It wasn't to be.
So be it."
Though he will be remembered for two glorious centuries against South
Africa (1996 and 2003), Lara has little else to cherish as far as the
World Cup is concerned. Winning the ICC Champions Trophy in the gloom at
The Oval in 2004 was a highlight, and he'll hope for a reprise against the
English team that was beaten that day.
"West Indies cricket is something I hold dearly to my own heart," he said
when asked what his feelings would be as he donned the maroon colours for
the last time. "I've had a very good run, 299 one-day matches and 130-odd
Tests under my belt. That's testimony to the fact that I've been out there
toiling for West Indies cricket. I've enjoyed every single day."
He leaves behind quite a legacy as a batsman. "I've come out there and
tried to entertain," he said, when asked how he'd like to be remembered.
"You have to remember that people pay to come through the turnstiles.
"Another thing that I'm proud of is that I've been knocked down so many
times, both as a player and a person, and come back. I need to thank my
parents for that, for being able to go out there in the face of adversity
and perform. It's a family trait."
Dileep Premachandran is associate editor of Cricinfo