[Photo credit: Chennette]

Or better put, Marlon Samuels spoiled Lara's day.

In front of the largest crowd of the World Cup so far, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith gave the West Indies a solid platform. They put on 131 for the first wicket, with Gayle, who seemed out of sorts at the start of his innings, finding his form to make a brisk 79 off 58 balls. Smith played fairly well for his 61, but too often failed to give the strike back to the dashing Gayle and consumed all of 106 deliveries.

At the fall of Gayle's wicket, caught at third man, the crowd called out for Lara, and he came out to thunderous applause. The England players saluted Lara by forming a guard of honour as he walked out to the middle for the final time in his international career. Lara played well for his 18 runs, tantalising his spellbound audience with three fours. After Smith fell to a brilliant Paul Collingwood catch, Samuels joined Lara at the crease. And then the unthinkable. Samuels hit a delivery down to mid on and called Lara for a run that was never on. When Samuels stopped and finally realised that the run was not on, it was too late for Lara as Kevin Pietersen swooped in and hit the wicket while Lara desperately tried in vain to make it back.Read more

Brian Lara courtesy of mailliw.

Today’s victory by the West Indies over Bangladesh was overshadowed by the post match press conference when Windies captain Brian Lara stunningly announced that he would be retiring from international cricket after the Windies’ final World Cup match on Saturday. That Lara would retire from ODIs after the World Cup was well known, and he reiterated that a few days ago. However, Lara had previously indicated that he wanted to tour England during the summer, citing his desire to make a Test century at Lords, so his retirement from Tests is stunning. Some will read between the lines and surmise that Lara learnt that the selectors intended not to pick him for the tour to England, so he decided to go out on his own. Whatever the reason for his decision, Lara deserves to retire on his own terms. There has been two sides to Lara’s career – his brilliance with the willow and his failures as captain. There have been occasions in the past, and will be in the future, to question Lara’s tactics on the field and his behaviour off it, but now is the time to reflect on the career of a man who made a habit of breaking records.

In the debate surrounding who the best batsman in the world is, many names would be frequently mentioned, but to any West Indian, there would be only one name. Especially in the Test arena, none of Lara’s contemporaries can match his appetite for runs. The only blemish on his record as a batsman was the rut that he found himself in between November 1996 and April 2001 when he saw his Test average drop by over 12 runs from just over 60 to just below 48. If Lara had the consistency of Sachin Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting, then there would be no question as to who the finest batsman of his time was.Read more

As Cricket World Cup 2007 approaches, Rain, No Play takes a look at aging batting stars likely in search of a final taste of glory.
 
Brian Lara, 37, West Indies
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