da dobrowin： According to Lara, a press conference wasn’t the right forumto debate whatever had gone wrong behind the scenes, though he did saythat the new captain would need “whole-hearted support from the board andthe selectors.
Dileep Premachandran in Barbados20-Apr-2007
Parting words: ‘Our cricket needs a strong foundation. We have to dig deep’ – Lara © Getty Images
When Ramnaresh Sarwan, man of the match against Bangladesh after a superbunbeaten 91, talked to the media after the game, he had little idea thathis captain was poised to drop a bombshell that would render everythingelse – Jacob Oram’s heel and Duncan Fletcher’s resignation, to name justtwo significant stories of the day – redundant. Though he laughed at the idea that hewas captain-in-waiting, Sarwan was candid when asked if he’d want BrianLara in the squad that leaves for England in early May.”Of course,” he said. “With his experience, the way he plays and what hebrings to the team, you’d want him there.” And asked what he’d learnt fromsharing the same dressing room, Sarwan spoke of Lara’s mental strength andhow he’d managed to rebound from the hard times despite his every movebeing so closely scrutinised. In his view, much of the criticism of Larawas unfair, though he accepted that it came with the job. “People pointfingers at the leader. That happens in every sport.”We recently had the case of a vice-captain, Pakistan’s Younis Khan,refusing to take up the reins, but that path of least resistance won’t bethe one that Sarwan takes. “I’ve said for a while now that I’m willing totake up the challenge,” he said. “A few things would have to changethough.”A few minutes later, it was Lara in front of the cameras and microphones,and he appeared to give the anointed one his seal of approval. “I thinkhe’s shown maturity,” he said, when asked about Sarwan. “He’s a very goodbatsman. We dropped him down to No.5 because he’s a very good finisher. Ifthat decision had been taken earlier, it might have borne fruit.”Lara has been roundly criticised during this World Cup campaign, withlegends of the past dismissive of both the team’s performances andpreparation. According to him, a press conference wasn’t the right forumto debate whatever had gone wrong behind the scenes, though he did saythat the new captain would need “whole-hearted support from the board andthe selectors.”It was as good as saying that the support cast had failed him, and was inkeeping with what he had hinted at during an interview withCricinfo Magazine last September. When asked about indiscipline -the allegations have flown thick and fast during this competition – he hadsaid: “There are different types of indiscipline. Are you talking aboutthe controversial kind?”It can stem not just from the players, it can stem from deep-rootedproblems in the administration. I don’t think you’d see an indisciplinedteam if you have a disciplined board. If you have a disciplined board,they would know exactly what they want from their players. You need to seethe whole spiral, where it starts from.”To blame Lara and the players alone for this World Cup debacle is acop-out, and it ignores huge faults beneath the surface. “I’ve been partof five World Cups and we reached the semis only in 1996,” said Lara.”Here, we were beaten by better teams.” The pressure sometimes getsthe better of me but it’s a lovely feeling to have the chips down, backagainst the wall, and come up with something special. The thousands that pour through the turnstiles on Saturday morning will hope for one last glimpse of such genius. For all his flaws as an individual – and who doesn’t have them? – Brian Lara the batsman was asight to behold. Two days from now, the crazy diamond will shine one lasttime. When asked if he saw a way out of the morass of mediocrity, he was onlycautiously optimistic, saying that it might take five or 10 years for theWest Indies to regain respectability. “The team is good enough, the talentis there,” he said. “But in international sport, success stems from a lotmore than the 11 players on the field.”Our cricket needs a strong foundation. We have to dig deep. We’ve gotsome guys who are good thinkers on the game on the cricket committee. Weneed to find the right plan. It’s not going to be easy and we can’t lookfor too much.”Lara is prepared to be part of that future, turbulent though it may be.”It’s not time for me to go into hibernation,” he said. “I’ve played andI’ve been a student of the game. I know the history of West Indies cricketand I know what it means to the people. There are also a lot of people inother countries that we could learn from.”Saturday will be special, and such has been Lara’s mental strength downthe years that you can picture him conjuring up an innings to remember.”We’ve still got a job to do on Saturday,” he said after Bangladesh hadsubsided to a 99-run defeat. “It’s nice to get back on the winning trail.We’ve not won a game since Jamaica. And though it’s come a couple ofmatches too late, we still have a World Cup to finish.”The fans are still coming out to watch us. You wonder if the support isgoing to be there. It was a tremendous turnout to watch a team that had nochance of reaching the semi-finals.”Quite a few of them would have come to see him grace the venue where heenjoyed his finest hour. The world-record scores of 375 and 400 will catchthe statistician’s eye, and the purist might swear by his 277 at Sydney(1993), but it’s highly unlikely that any of us will see an innings tomatch the 153 not out that inspired a one-wicket win against the best teamin the world.When asked about it in Malaysia, he had said: “The pressure sometimes getsthe better of me but it’s a lovely feeling to have the chips down, backagainst the wall, and come up with something special.”The thousands that pour through the turnstiles on Saturday morning willhope for one last glimpse of such genius. For all his flaws as anindividual – and who doesn’t have them? – Brian Lara the batsman was asight to behold. Two days from now, the crazy diamond will shine one lasttime.