Lara record push marred by series loss
Monday, April 12, 2004
ST JOHN'S, Antigua (AFP): West Indies
skipper Brian Lara insists the joy of becoming only the second player in
history to score two triple Test centuries cannot make up for the misery of
presiding over his country's first series loss to England on home soil in 36
years. Lara hit an unbeaten 313 as the West
Indies reached 595-5 at stumps on the second day of the fourth and final Test
on Sunday and now finds himself in sight of Australia's Matthew Hayden who
broke his Test best score by making 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth last
October. Ironically, Lara, who has now joined
Don Bradman as the only player with two triple tons to his name, had set the
previous best individual score of 375 on the same ground here against England
in 1994. "When you look at the different
accolades and milestones, it will all fall into place at the right time," said
Lara. "I appreciate I am one of only two
batsmen to score two triple hundreds, but 3-0 down against England will stay
with me right now." The skipper admits that
reclaiming the record from Hayden is very much a target.
"When Matthew Hayden broke the record, it had no effect on me. I was not too
disappointed or sad, I thought I would use it as a catalyst to get my game
together and get the consistency and making a name for myself in other areas,"
said Lara. "The record is there for the
taking and it will be in the back of my mind. At the end of the day, it is
West Indies cricket and one individual getting whatever amount of runs is not
what we need right now. We need a team that's playing well. We need a team
that's playing a very competitive level and we are not doing that in recent
times." Despite his joy at his innings, Lara
is aware that West Indies cricket is in a desperate state.
"I feel like a man happy for scoring what I have scored, but the position of
the series has really dampened the occasion," he admitted.
"Ten years ago, we were ahead in the series and my aim and everybody else's is
to see West Indies back on top. "One of the
things is that nobody else took up the baton and ran with it. I would have
loved to see some of the other guys get hundreds. It's the sort of pitch that
if you remain in the middle, you can get a three-figure score," said Lara
hinting at the shortcomings of his teammates.
Back...
Most popular
articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed
Printable
version
| 
