Brian Charles Lara : Cricket
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM (born May 2, 1969 is a former West Indian international cricket player. He is one of the sport’s legendary modern players, holding the record for most runs scored in an innings in both Test and first-class cricket. Lara was chosen for the West Indians national team at the age of 21 in 1991 but didn’t achieve anything until 1994 after breaking two of the most popular batting records in cricket. Lara is nicknamed “Prince of Port of Spain” or “Prince”. Brian Lara is ranked with Sir Don Bradman, Sir Viv Richards and Clive Lloyd, some of cricket’s greatest batsmen.
Greatest Sporting Achievements
Lara holds some of the sport’s other records including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994; he also holds the record for the highest score in a Test innings after scoring 375 runs against England. His match-winning feat of 153 not out in opposition to Australia in Barbados had been rated as the second best batting performance in the history of Test cricket, just next to Sir Don Bradman’s 270 runs during The Ashes Test match in 1937.
In addition, Lara is an honorary member of the Order of Australia in 2009, inducted into ICC’s Hall of Fame in Sri-Lanka in 2013 and an Honorary Life Membership of the MMC in which he became the 31st West Indian to receive the honor.
Why Was He So Good?
Brian Lara is a natural-born athlete. Though he struggled to play how people expect out of him and while others questioned his enthusiasm to cricket, he was able to accomplish so many things and broke so many records including being the only batsman to ever score a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games during his senior career.
What You May Not Know
- Brian Lara was a member of the national underage (14 years old) football team. People were rooting for him to be the next great West Indian cricketer even when he was younger.
- In 2004, he became the first player to retake the Test batting record when his 400 runs (not out) against England surpassed 380 runs posted by Matthew Hayden (Aus) in 2003.
- Lara founded the Pearl and Bunty Lara Foundation. An organization that helps people with social care and health issues. He also became the Ambassador for Sport of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Related Pages
- More cricket players
- About Cricket
- Athlete Database home
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