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Brian Lara, How Good Was He?

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Doss said:
That cover drive...that cut shot...the square drive.

I've never cheered an opposition innings like his 153 in 1999 or that 226 in Adelaide in 2005.

I was, and am, quite simply in love with his batting.
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How good is having a big old flog with like minded souls about a particularly entertaining sportsman.

I liked all his shots obviously but loved especially the kind of attitude he imbued them with in relation to the game.

I think it was during the Bridgetown innings, McGrath pinned him and he fell over. Next ball he thrashed it to point for 4 as if to just say "go and get f***ed." He had a habit of doing things like that.
 
imadodgyumpire said:
**** man! I was at the shoppingtown hotel last night. I MET BRIAN LARA!!!

Are you ******* serious!

I couldn't believe he was standing right ******* next to me!!!

Shook hands!!

Exchanged words!!!

**** The elderly man with a white beard. God is a shorter black, bald dude in his mid40s!!!

Internally. I lost my shit!!!

That was awesome!!!

I can't believe that happened!!!
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Exchanged words? Do tell!
 
ioppolo said:
Exchanged words? Do tell!
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I actually can't remember word for word. My mind was going into overdrive.

There was more than 200 people there, and he greeted everyone and allowed for photos before the show started.

For a moment. I'm standing next to him, while he was waiting to do the next move. I thought I had to create an exchange. Something that didn't make me look stupid. I made some pleasantry, and he turned and acknowledged my words.

I was just so aware of how huge a moment it was for me. "Wow. The mind of 11,900 test runs talking to me."
 
PhatBoy said:
How good is having a big old flog with like minded souls about a particularly entertaining sportsman.

I liked all his shots obviously but loved especially the kind of attitude he imbued them with in relation to the game.

I think it was during the Bridgetown innings, McGrath pinned him and he fell over. Next ball he thrashed it to point for 4 as if to just say "go and get f***ed." He had a habit of doing things like that.
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He wasn't necessarily the guy to always hold up the stoutest end. He was vulnerable to emotion on occasion.

He is the most intangible player I've known as an Australian supporter; one of the few I actively and repeatedly barracked for against us without a pang.

It was definitely the way he played the game. The back-lift, the fast scoring, the belligerence- basically everything.

I suspect in time to come, people will look back on those who saw Lara and think we were so over the top, because his statistics, while absolutely fantastic, were not better than a lot of the other great players of recent times.

You had to see him.
 

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Doss said:
He wasn't necessarily the guy to always hold up the stoutest end. He was vulnerable to emotion on occasion.

He is the most intangible player I've known as an Australian supporter; one of the few I actively and repeatedly barracked for against us without a pang.

It was definitely the way he played the game. The back-lift, the fast scoring, the belligerence- basically everything.

I suspect in time to come, people will look back on those who saw Lara and think we were so over the top, because his statistics, while absolutely fantastic, were not better than a lot of the other great players of recent times.

You had to see him.
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Perfect appraisal. a Trumper type character. laxman is a slightly more recent comparison too. didn't retire with the figures of his contemporaries but to watch him in form was to watch someone completely in charge of what he was doing, and did it elegantly.
 
JackOutback said:
Both S.Waugh and Gilly had comparable averages over a similar length of time, so not sure how he is 'easily' better. He looked better but I personally rate Waugh as a better cricketer (and captain) to Ponting.
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Better captain for sure. Better cricketer? No way known. I reckon at his absolute best during the Noughties, Ponting put his name forward as a contender for the second best Aussie batsman ever. Unfortunately he hung around for two to three years too long and that's caused a lot of people to forget just how good he was at his best. He was always among the best fielders in the world, and I reckon he was a fraction under bowled too.
 
PhatBoy said:
Perfect appraisal. a Trumper type character. laxman is a slightly more recent comparison too. didn't retire with the figures of his contemporaries but to watch him in form was to watch someone completely in charge of what he was doing, and did it elegantly.
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Lara did it against everyone though. Laxman was a fantastic player at his best, but in a different ballpark to Lara overall.
 
krisholio14 said:
Better captain for sure. Better cricketer? No way known. I reckon at his absolute best during the Noughties, Ponting put his name forward as a contender for the second best Aussie batsman ever. Unfortunately he hung around for two to three years too long and that's caused a lot of people to forget just how good he was at his best. He was always among the best fielders in the world, and I reckon he was a fraction under bowled too.
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Ponting's knock in the world cup final of 2003 was one of the most spectacular innings I've ever seen. He was unstoppable that day. I was 5-6 and it's about the only thing I can remember from that age as my grandad taped all the games for me due to the time difference. Martyn made 80 odd N.O. that day and I doubt whether many actually remember that inings
 
Doss said:
That cover drive...that cut shot...the square drive.

I've never cheered an opposition innings like his 153 in 1999 or that 226 in Adelaide in 2005.

I was, and am, quite simply in love with his batting.
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The difficulty and risk in the square drive is extremely high. Yet he slashed and smoked these off great bowlers through cover to backward point for over a decade!
 
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...s-on-for-country-cricket-20161121-gsu7kb.html
He has nearly 12,000 Test runs to his name, more than 10,000 runs from 299 one-day internationals and a top score of 501 not out in first-class cricket.

But legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara is proving he still has some lead in his pencil after signing up to a Division 5 grade cricket side in New South Wales' Hunter Valley.
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So, I play in this division. He'll never play a game but **** me imagine if I got to play a game against Brian ****ing Lara. I think I'd break down before his feet like when religious people meet the pope except this would give my life purpose.
 
Probably says a lot about the bloke that an innings he played in a rainy draw is still so revered 24 years later.

Most innings of that magnitude (277) that don't lead to anything kind of got glossed over or have the asterisk treatment.

That knock was so close to perfection that even Warne, who finds it almost impossible to give blokes credit for belting him, has the odd tug over it.
 

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krisholio14 said:
Better captain for sure. Better cricketer? No way known. I reckon at his absolute best during the Noughties, Ponting put his name forward as a contender for the second best Aussie batsman ever. Unfortunately he hung around for two to three years too long and that's caused a lot of people to forget just how good he was at his best. He was always among the best fielders in the world, and I reckon he was a fraction under bowled too.
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My point was that Ponting and Waugh both had pretty much identical records (Ponting 51.85 from 168 Tests, Waugh 51.06 also from 168 Tests). So in terms of making runs, which is the primary measure of their worth, they were equal. Ponting was more natural and looked great, but to me, that's part of what makes Waugh a better cricketer than people give him credit for; he produced the same output despite being less talented.
 
I was genuinely a bit sad when he retired. To know I'd never see that flourishing backlift and guillotine-like flash of the bat again was...well, cricket wasn't quite the same knowing that was gone.

Sometimes, when you grow up with cricket a particular player grabs your imagination and Lara was that person for me. My first series watched was 1992/93 and even at the young age I was then, I could sense he was special.
 
Doss said:
I was genuinely a bit sad when he retired. To know I'd never see that flourishing backlift and guillotine-like flash of the bat again was...well, cricket wasn't quite the same knowing that was gone.

Sometimes, when you grow up with cricket a particular player grabs your imagination and Lara was that person for me. My first series watched was 1992/93 and even at the young age I was then, I could sense he was special.
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He was still scoring big runs when he retired too which made it a bit harder to take.
 
PhatBoy said:
He was still scoring big runs when he retired too which made it a bit harder to take.
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He made 216 and 122 against Pakistan in his last Test series. And of course that amazing 226 at Adelaide against us a year earlier.

He went out on top that's for sure. Something that Ponting and Tendulkar didn't manage.
 
Doss said:
He made 216 and 122 against Pakistan in his last Test series. And of course that amazing 226 at Adelaide against us a year earlier.

He went out on top that's for sure. Something that Ponting and Tendulkar didn't manage.
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I think one thing that T20 cricket has probably shown us via the amount of older players still making a contribution, is that the players who use instinct and eye rather than a technique be it correct or unorthodox, are the ones who can continue longer. When I think of correct players or ones who relied heavily on technique, I think of players like Ponting, Tendulkar, Dravid, Kallis, Yousuf, Vaughan - all of them bar maybe Kallis started to drop off at the back end of their career when they needed everything - eyes, hands, feet, reflexes - to be sharp. Hussey is perhaps a good example of an exception. he had a very deliberate technique and managed to keep it working perfectly until the end.
 
A mate of mine was back in his hometown in Scarborough, Yorkshire for the weekend a few years back. When Lara was at his prime. My mate saw him in a bar and offered to buy him a beer and Lara said, "I'll buy one, just show me around town".

They hit a few bars and my mate said he was a great bloke. Friendly with everybody and very down to earth.
 

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JimDocker said:
A mate of mine was back in his hometown in Scarborough, Yorkshire for the weekend a few years back. When Lara was at his prime. My mate saw him in a bar and offered to buy him a beer and Lara said, "I'll buy one, just show me around town".

They hit a few bars and my mate said he was a great bloke. Friendly with everybody and very down to earth.
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I've never heard a bad word about him as a bloke. liked a party, liked women, liked having a good time.
 
JackOutback said:
My point was that Ponting and Waugh both had pretty much identical records (Ponting 51.85 from 168 Tests, Waugh 51.06 also from 168 Tests). So in terms of making runs, which is the primary measure of their worth, they were equal. Ponting was more natural and looked great, but to me, that's part of what makes Waugh a better cricketer than people give him credit for; he produced the same output despite being less talented.
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Not really.

13378 > 10927.
 
JackOutback said:
My point was that Ponting and Waugh both had pretty much identical records (Ponting 51.85 from 168 Tests, Waugh 51.06 also from 168 Tests). So in terms of making runs, which is the primary measure of their worth, they were equal. Ponting was more natural and looked great, but to me, that's part of what makes Waugh a better cricketer than people give him credit for; he produced the same output despite being less talented.
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Dont forget Waugh took nearly 100 test wickets as well and would of ended near 150 if not for back ailments imo.

Pissing into the wind comparing players though...
 

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Brian Lara, How Good Was He?

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