Saturday, April 21, 2007

His greatest innings...

5 November 1998 Board Fires Brian Lara And Carl Hooper

5 November 1998 West Indies tour hangs in the balance

10 November 1998 Tour saved after talks end West Indies brinkmanship

11 November 1998 Jimmy Adams out of South African Tour

10 January 1999 Lara's future as West Indies captain on the line

19 January 1999 Windies face troubled future

19 January 1999 Whitelash: Lara says WI in tatters after 5-0 drubbing

4 February 1999 Captain's boots too heavy for Lara

8 February 1999 South Africa creates history

14 February 1999 Why Lara should be impeached

20 February 1999 Lara to lose top job, reports paper

23 February 1999 Lara's Two-Test Trial

24 February 1999 Lara's laughable reappointment

25 February 1999 Hooper may miss out

26 February 1999 West Indies lose 'Chanders'

5 March 1999 Redemption time

Australia v West Indies (1st Test) - Scorecard

13 March 1999 Sabina farce

``Once we could beat the world, man. Now it's time to suck salt.''

Given this context, given the history, given the pressure the man was under,what happened next is a testimony to the man's character and his great ability to play the most defining innings of this generation.

Australia v West Indies (2nd Test) - Scorecard Match Report

                                                                R   M   B  4 6
*BC Lara c Healy b McGrath 213 468 344 29 3
16 March 1999 Thank you Jamaicans, thank you Lara
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His 277 may have been more commanding, his 153 more thrilling. The 375, 400 and 501 more towering but for me this glorious innings defined Brian Lara.

Thank you Brian Charles.
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(West Indies in RSA - Articles)
( Australia in the West Indies - Articles)
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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicely compiled post, homer. - one for the archives.

Cheers.

Homer said...

:) Thanks Sfx

Samir Chopra said...

Homer, you are a freak :)

How do you do it? Awesome compilation!

Cheers,
Samir

Homer said...

Samir,

I guess because this innings ( and the surrounding literature) has stayed with me for the longest time :).

I also suppose because this innings by Lara reminds me of an innings in Calcutta by another artist whose team was thrashed in their first tour to South Africa and whose captaincy was on the line when England came visiting in 1993.

And in both cases, neither held back when it came to batting - their artistry was on full display.

The 153 was a bolder innings, but often times it is forgotten that Ian Healy dropped Lara with 7 runs required. Would have been a different story if that catch was taken..

The 213, on the other hand, was chance less.

:)

samir said...

Homer, in batting terms I enjoyed the 213 more as well. I saw it at a Bangladeshi cafe here in NYC, with an Australian friend of mine, and he couldn't stop oohing-n-aahing as well. It also included that bit where McGrath conked him on the helmet, and he then hit McGrath for four off the next ball. The look they exchanged was priceless. Fantastic stuff. I'm glad that at least, the English team were classy enough to give him a guard of honour as he came on to the field.

Samir

Anonymous said...

No post for 3 days ?

Come back Homer. All's forgiven :)

Homer said...

lol Sfx.. 2 days mate.. and thats because spring is on us and I am basking (baking too )in the sun shine :)..

Anonymous said...

24th April, 9.43 pm in Singapore

Weather forecast for the next TEN YEARS

Warm, sunny, chances of thundershowers.

expected max :33
expected min: 23

Enjoy matey ...