Lara to play test in to his forties

[dass]

Looks like Lara would play test cricket for atleast another 4 or 5 years, good to know, hopefully he will the first to reach 50 test tons.

Lara set to play tests beyond 40
Web Posted - Wed Mar 14 2007
WEST Indies captain Brian Lara has announced he intends to extend his Test career into his forties.
Lara will definitely quit one-day internationals after the World Cup.

Im only 37, he said. A lot of players stretch their career into their forties. There's a lot of work to do to get West Indies cricket back on track". Lara has 11 953 Test runs to his name and 34 centuries, as well as the world record Test score of 400.

In addition, he has played 290 ODIs, scoring 10 136 runs and 19 hundreds.

However, Lara has seen his team decline from the most powerful team in world cricket when he first came into the side in 1990 to perennial strugglers in the Test arena.

And Lara told Sport magazine: Now is not the time to talk about details such as the infrastructure of the game and funding  that will come later.

"But all I can do is play my part on the field. What we have to do is create a greater number of match-winners and spread the responsibility".

"The team that wins the World Cup is going to be a team of players who can get themselves out of trouble if they lose their core performers".

"I'm quietly confident we can win it, and I think the players are confident of their ability to perform at such a huge event."


http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=30298

 

[Jono]

Lara

 

[pasag]

Awesome news. I hate the media pressure and speculation on older players as soon as they hit 35 or whatever. It starts breeding doubt in their minds and must be pretty hard to handle.

 

[simmy]

Good for Windies cricket IMO.

I have no problem watching one of the greatest players ever in his 40s!

 

[Sanz]

Lara should never retire.

 

[chaminda_00]

Nice, hopefully though his average doesn't drop to crazy level and he doesn't get remembered as an average cricketer. The only real drawback to playing well past your prime, you legacy might not be as great. Just have to look at players like Botham who played well past his prime. His record doesn't look as good as it could have been.

 

[BlackCap_Fan]

Excellent. The more Lara, the better. First to 15000 runs?

 

[oz_fan]

Great news. Still one of the most entertaining players in world cricket. Like others have said hopefully his average doesn't suffer too much. As long as the cricketer wishes to continue playing and they're the best choice they should be picked no matter how old they are.

 

[archie mac]

I hope he doesn't go on too long past his best, ala Viv, Botham, Donald etc

Still no reason why he can't keep his form, one of the all time greats

 

[vic_orthdox]

Meh, I hope he does go past his best if it means that West Indies will win more games than what they would if he wasn't in the team.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I agree with vic here; if he's still the best man for the job I say kudos for going on, regardless of whether it causes his average to decline slightly.

Hopefully cricket fans will be able to see there was more to the player than the brute statistics tell you, especially in the case of someone like BCL who has played the majority of his career in the age of multi-media coverage.

 

[Sir Don Bradman]

Great news, Lara is one of my favourite players

 

[Richard]

Meh, I hope he does go past his best if it means that West Indies will win more games than what they would if he wasn't in the team.

How is such a thing possible?

 

[Richard]

Awesome news. I hate the media pressure and speculation on older players as soon as they hit 35 or whatever. It starts breeding doubt in their minds and must be pretty hard to handle.

Agree entirely. One of the things in cricket I despise most.

 

[BoyBrumby]

How is such a thing possible?

It's fairly obvious, I'd have thought. Say the 40-year-old BCL averages a creditable (but lower than his overall career average) 40 in tests from now until the end of his career & the alternate pick(s) average less. Lara has gone on past his best, but Lara on the slide is still better than any other alternative.

 

[Richard]

I'd hardly call 40 "past his best" material, TBH.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd hardly call 40 "past his best" material, TBH.

I would, given his current career average is over ten an innings more.

 

[Richard]

I'd classify "past his best" as not-that-good-any-more, myself.

Not take every individual case by itself. I'd say, personally, that Lara even now isn't too much different to how he ever has been - he's always had good spells and bad spells. I can see such a thing continuing for however long he wants to play.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'd classify "past his best" as not-that-good-any-more, myself.

I think most would disagree with you there, but that's not a rarity, is it?

 

[Richard]

Nope.

I mean, there's being not-as-good-as-you-once-were and being "past your best".

I don't, personally, find the two to be the same.