Kallis Sticking Around for Years to Come

Tuesday 8th April, 2008 13

If you knew you were Phelps doesn't going to die, you’d prefer win but posts a single bludgeoning blow to the head, or a third-fastest US quick bullet to the brain, rather than death by a time in 100 free thousand ever-so-precise COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Michael Phelps was second in the 100-meter cuts. Eleven fielders were freestyle he seldom swims yet his time never enough; there were of 48.41 seconds was the third-fastest ever by an American at the Columbus always gaps to plug. Grand Prix on Sunday. When he scored his 375 "I was out in exactly what I wanted against my England to be out in," said Phelps, winner of six golds and two bronze medals at the 2004 team, I remember mov- Athens Olympics, who made the turn in ing first slip out when 23.34 seconds. "I wanted to be out in 23.3 and try and come back but I guess I ran Lara had scored 291. He out of pool. There weren't enough edged the very next ball meters left for me to catch him." Cesar Cielo, who will swim for Brazil right where first slip in the Olympics this August in Beijing, had been. I’d love to won in 48.34. He had a comfortable lead with 25 meters remaining, but Phelps know whether it was almost chased him down with a finish- deliberate; I always ing kick. doubted it, simply on the "I couldn't be more pleased with that," said Phelps' coach Bob Bowman. basis that such a level of "I'd like him to win but that'll happen. genius was beyond my Our goal is down the road a bit." The only Americans to go faster than comprehension. Phelps in the 100 free are Jason Lezak Brian Lara sweeps Shane Warne for four on his way to 226 in Adelaide in his last Test appearance in Australia in 2005. feared by opposing captains. You might worry about Adam Gilchrist, Life of Brian say, butchering an attack and smashing a bowler to smithereens, Genius of — Brian Charles Lara was but Lara made captains, not born on May 2, 1969, in bowlers, look silly. Trinidad, the tenth of 11 children If you knew you were going to die, you’d prefer a single bludgeon- — Made his Test debut in ing blow to the head, or a quick bul- 1990 against Pakistan let to the brain, rather than death — In 1994 he recorded the by a thousand ever-so-precise cuts. Brian Lara highest Test innings at the time, Eleven fielders were never enough; 375 v England in Antigua, and there were always gaps to plug. the highest first-class score, When he scored his 375 against my 501* for Warwickshire v Durham England team, I remember moving — Appointed West Indies cap- first slip out when Lara had scored tain in 1997 for the first time 291. He edged the very next ball hailed by — Having lost his record Test right where first slip had been. I’d love to know whether it was deliber- score to Matthew Hayden, he ate; I always doubted it, simply on regained it in 2004 with 400* v the basis that such a level of genius England, again in Antigua was beyond my comprehension. — Led one-day team to victo- Thirdly, Lara was undoubtedly ry in 2004 Champions Trophy the best player of spin in his era, an Wisden — In November 2005 became era that did not lack for world-class spinners. There might not have ou don’t was simply unlucky with his tim- most prolific run-scorer in Tests. been such abundance of quality as Michael Phelps stretches before the start of really ing, and the fact that he was a great His tally of 11,953 is still the before, but in Anil Kumble, Muttiah the 100 meter freestyle during the Ywant to player in an undeniably shabby side record Muralitharan and Shane Warne, he remember great merely added lustre to his reputa- — Played 131 Tests, average Columbus Grand Prix swimming meet came up against three of the great- players like this: tion. Some day, someone from 52.88, and 299 one-day interna- Sunday, April 6, 2008, in Columbus, Ohio. est ever. No one has played Murali Brian Lara fill- inside the West Indies dressing- tionals, average 40.48, before (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete) better than Lara in Sri Lanka in ing his boots, room will write the definitive tale. (48.17) and Anthony Ervin (48.33). retiring after being run out in 2001-02. He hit 688 runs at 114 and not with runs It should be quite a read, failure Phelps' previous best was 48.42 at the final match in World Cup last reduced the maestro to impotency but dollars, in being more interesting than suc- Pan Pacifics in 2006. year. (against everyone else Murali was the fledgeling cess. Phelps now will have two weeks omnipotent, bowling Sri Lanka to a Indian Cricket Lara’s quixotic impact within the away from competition before heading 3-0 win). It was no coincidence, per- League at a far- four walls of the West Indies dress- or a marble. to Colorado for three weeks of altitude by Mike haps, that it was against Lara’s flung cricketing ing-room is, anyhow, beyond the Such was his subsequent impact training. Atherton West Indies in 1999 that Warne was outpost on the scope of this appreciation. Lara the as a schoolboy batsman that Tony "Once I get to Colorado, I'll be fine," dropped for the first and last time outskirts of Chandigarh, the sur- batsman can be assessed objectively Cozier would write in these pages of Phelps said. "(Trainer) Keenan in his Test career. roundings of Panchkula more scrub on what we saw, rather than what his record-breaking spree in 1994 (Robinson) said, 'You're almost superhu- That series saw Lara at the peak than stadium. we did not see. And any fair-minded that “there was no real surprise man when you go there. ... I've never of his powers, and his unbeaten 153 Puffy-cheeked and short of inspi- assessment could only conclude among his countrymen — simply seen you train anywhere, anything close to win the Barbados Test is the ration is no way to remember the that he must be one of the finest the feeling that his inevitable date to what you train in Colorado.' So it fourth reason he stood out. Great should be good. I'm definitely looking most instinctive, attractive batsman entertainers to have played in this with destiny had arrived rather batsmen play great innings, and on forward to that." of his era, so it was slightly appro- or any other era. more suddenly than expected”. that day Lara created, I believe, the He won the 100-meter butterfly, was priate that he made a match-win- For entertainment was the creed This schoolboy brilliance did not, best innings I have seen either as second in the 200 freestyle and fourth in ning century for Trinidad & Tobago by which he lived as a batsman. it must be said, extend to the Youth player or observer of the game. the 100 breaststroke on Friday, then won in an attempted comeback a few Many talk the talk but Lara, unde- World Cup in Australia in 1988, England were watching in Lahore, the 400 individual medley on Saturday. weeks later. In any event, he was niably, walked the walk. Records when I first came across Lara as an where we were preparing for the denied the grand farewell to his and statistics must have been opposing captain. Word certainly 1999 World Cup, and no other con- international career that two other important to him — how else does a had it that he was special, but a temporary batsman would have had modern-day greats, Shane Warne batsman galvanise himself to score combination of poor outback pitch- the effect of keeping a bunch of Kallis sticking and Glenn McGrath, were accorded 501 in a county match against es and fierce heat (appropriately, professional cricketers glued to the last year in Sydney, with the Ashes Durham? — but the means were James Boiling had a good tourna- screen until the small hours of the in the bag and the public paying full never sacrificed to the ends. “Did I ment for England) made batting far morning. It was a stunning innings. around for years homage. At the magnificently entertain you?” he bellowed to the from easy. With just one half-centu- “Christ,” one of the team said to revamped Kensington Oval, Lara spectators in the newly minted ry in the tournament, Lara flopped. me, “I wish you’d get as excited by had the setting all right, but not the Kensington stand at the end of his But within three years he was cap- to come some of our players.” Well, honesty script to match. last match. They cheered, but not taining Trinidad and had become the owner of a maroon cap. Two always was my downfall. Responding in turns to Marlon loudly enough. “Did I entertain Jacques Kallis says he can still per- Only one reason prevents this Samuels’s confused calls for a sin- you?” he asked again. And even years later, he played his great form at the highest level for several observer from placing Lara at the gle, Lara shuffled forwards, back- those in the anti-Lara camp could innings of 277 at Sydney, described years after making his 30th Test hun- apex of modern West Indian bats- wards and then finally towards the not deny it. by Rohan Kanhai, no stranger to dred in South Africa's comprehensive men. Against extreme pace he got pavilion for the last time. For once, It is the West Indian way, of instinct and individuality at the win over India in the second Test in hit too often, and he could seem he was at the mercy of events, course. If, broadly, batsmanship can crease, as “one of the greatest Ahmedabad. extraordinarily jumpy at the rather than controlling them. be split into two schools — the innings I have ever seen”. The 32-year-old all-rounder hit 132 as crease. I’ve often wondered what Even now, at the end of his roundheads and the cavaliers — There was no looking back after the Proteas cruised home by an innings kind of effect removing helmets career, Lara could not escape the then West Indies have always spe- that — only a question of how far and 90 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the would have on modern-day players, intrigue and controversy that cialised in the latter. It is the main he would go and how many records series. a hypothetical that doesn’t apply to accompanied his cricket from the reason why West Indies cricket is so he would break. What, then, made His latest success with the bat took Vivian Richards. moment in Antigua in 1994 that he cherished beyond narrow interna- him stand out? Four things, I think. him past Don Bradman's tally of 29 Test Still, to hold both Test and first- centuries and level with Australian broke Sir Garfield Sobers’s world tional boundaries and why the cur- Barry Richards once said of Garry class records for the highest opener Matthew Hayden. Only five men record for the highest score in rent decline is felt so deeply and so Sobers that he was the only 360- innings, and thrill a generation of have scored more, with the list headed Tests. For some said Samuels had widely. Cricket, put simply, is more degree player in the game. He was watchers in the process, is some- by Sachin Tendulkar on 39. been disillusioned about the way fun played the West Indian way. It is referring, I think, to his backlift thing Lara can look back on with a Of the others only Ricky Ponting (34) Lara as captain had treated him, to Lara’s great credit that, whatever and follow-through, which routinely great deal of pride. Warne, assess- is still playing. Brian Lara and Sunil and this was the ultimate payback. the circumstances, he stayed faith- travelled through a full arc. Lara ing the cricketers he played Gavaskar also hit 34 hundreds, while Others said the cock-up confirmed ful to that particular creed. might well be described so, too, not just for his backlift, which reached against, was once heard to say that Steve Waugh made 32. the deep malaise within the West Lara was in the tradition of "I never dreamt of doing that (30 hun- the perpendicular when he was “on Sachin Tendulkar came first, day- Indies team, that not even the great batsmen for whom the funda- dreds)," Kallis told reporters after the the go”, but also for where he could light second and Lara third. That basics could be executed competent- mentals were essentially self- match. hit the ball — if not quite 360 may be so. But who would you ly — a malaise, moreover, in which taught, for whom technique was "It's nice to achieve that feat and go rather watch? The answer is not in Lara was deeply complicit. All this always the servant and not the mas- degrees, then as near as dammit. past the likes of Don Bradman. It cer- doubt: a Lara innings was always a was a pity. ter. His eye for the ball and his co- No other contemporary player, save tainly is a great honour and something thing of beauty, no matter who the Quite how Lara could have come ordination were granted by nature, perhaps Mohammad Azharuddin, I'll look at with pride." beholder. to evoke such visceral and conflict- and nurture in Trinidad did the could deflect the ball so finely and Kallis is also close to becoming only ing opinions, at a time when West rest. With his brothers and the com- so powerfully with a turn of the the fourth cricketer to score 10,000 runs Mike Atherton will be taking Indies were not exactly flush with munity of Cantaro in the Santa blade and flick of the wrists. Lara in both forms of the game. over the reins as The Times's talent, is one for West Indian crick- Cruz valley to sustain him, Lara’s had subtlety in an age of power and If he achieves that feat he will join et historians. For some in the upbringing may not have been as brute force. Chief Cricket Correspondent Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Lara in Caribbean, those two developments solitary as Don Bradman’s, but his This unrestricted repertoire, the from Christopher Martin the record books, although he admits — Lara’s ascent to greatness and early methods bring the Don to widest of arcs being open to him, Jenkins at the start of next life out in the middle is becoming hard-