Where does Lara rate?

[PY]

I quote one of Brian Lara's biggest critics at the time:

"He was given the opportunity to go on and break Brian's record and he did that. He was going to be given another half an hour, or 20 minutes, to try to get to 400 but unfortunately he got out." ~ Ricky Ponting on allowing Hayden to proceed to 380.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/134528.html

Lara didn't get out.

 

[Pratters]

I'm sorry to go off topic but the West Indies had been smashed that series, they had nothing to positive about it yet through one 'selfish' act he might well have saved West Indian pride in some small yet significant fashion.

It wasn't a certainty they'd have taken 20 English wickets by any means, it was a road in reality and the only reason IMO we had to follow on was because of the sheer amount of time spent in the field having to watch a player score a monstrous total. It mentality and physically shot them down.

If I was a West Indian fan, I'd have taken 3-0 and a 400* by one of my fave players over 3-1 and no records with a win in a dead rubber. Obviously, Liam and other WI fans will be able to confirm if that was the case but you only have to watch the reaction of the crowd at the ground to see what that meant to them. I had goosebumps and I'm English with only the radio to keep me company.

Yes I strongly believe the same PY.

 

[open365]

^me 3.

 

[Tom Halsey]

How did Viv face the West Indies attack?
Viv Richards was in an entirely different era of West Indies cricket. He was allowed to play the way he did, because the West Indies generally won even when he threw away his wicket - which he did often.

I explained it in a post above yours.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Lara had a chipped wrist bone throughout 1999. And he even managed to single handedly draw the series against Australia with that. Plus there was a period between 95 and 97 when he was bogged down by controversies and politics within the team and the "cricket is ruining my life" period. Shouldn't all those things be taken into account?

Yeah, Lara did wello when he had a chipped wrist bone, fair enough.

The second part doesn't fly though - mental strongness is a part of sport, and clearly he failed here - think of the pressure on Tendulkar every time he goes out to bat (I know he plays in a stronger team, but the following of the game is far bigger in India than it is in the West Indies atm and the pressure is huge).

 

[aussie]

but the following of the game is far bigger in India than it is in the West Indies atm and the pressure is huge).

hmm i'm not so sure about that tom...

 

[Tom Halsey]

hmm i'm not so sure about that tom...

I am.

In the West Indies, from just about everything I've read, interest in the game is dying. In India, it is anything but.

 

[marc71178]

It is no secret that Tendulkar has been inconsistent in the recent phase of his career. I do not understand why you bring this phase to compare - a trough in Tendulkar's career with a superb phase of Lara's.

Make your mind up - is it a trough or a period of inconsistency?

 

[marc71178]

So Wasim reckons SRT will play another 6 or 7 years...

 

[Jason_M]

I rate Lara well above Tendulkar and ahead of Viv Richards as well.

Sachin for all his numbers just lacks that something that Lara and Viv have-aura. I think Sachin has made alot of cheap runs against ordinary opponents on small grounds in the sub contintent which further weakens his credentials.

Lara has had to carry a side for the best part of a decade whereas Sachin has had able support from his fellow batsmen. I'm not suprised that Lara has had troughs in his career when you consider the pressure that's been on the man for so long, seriously there is no batsmen who could have mainted those standards in the face of such adversity, he is human afterall and he gets frustrated, annoyed and disheartened over what has eventuated in West Indies cricket over the last 15 years. He's not superman and there is no one playing cricket today who could've done a better job than Lara in that situation.

Steve Waugh summed it up perfectly when he said Lara is a good player against ordinary opponents but a great player against formiddable opponents, the reverse is true of Tendulkar.

 

[C_C]

on small grounds in the sub contintent

Most subcontinental grounds are bigger than English or Caribbean cricket grounds. The caribbean has just about the smallest cricket grounds on average in the entire test playing world.

Lara has had to carry a side for the best part of a decade whereas Sachin has had able support from his fellow batsmen.

People forget that for the first half of their careers ( well into 98 or so), Tendy was in a far worse boat than Lara- they had little or no support in the batting department but WI had the bowlers to make Lara's runs count in victories.

Steve Waugh summed it up perfectly when he said Lara is a good player against ordinary opponents but a great player against formiddable opponents, the reverse is true of Tendulkar.

Which is why Sachin's record against Australia in Australia is superior, which is why Sachin had a superior record against Wasim-Waqar, a superior record against Donald-Pollock and which is why he averages way more than Lara away from home.

 

[roseboy64]

Lara vs Tendulkar is almost like Headley vs Bradman. That said out of these 4:
Bradman=Headley and Lara>Tendulkar though Bradman>Lara>Headley>Tendulkar and for fun Sobers then Richards behind them.View that however you want.

 

[Jono]

Steve Waugh summed it up perfectly when he said Lara is a good player against ordinary opponents but a great player against formiddable opponents, the reverse is true of Tendulkar.

LMAO! That's such rubbish its unbelievable.

And all this talk about Lara carrying his team, he also had Ambrose and Walsh there for a number of years. So he actually had a bowling attack to back him up if he failed.

It was no secret that throughout the 90s it was often said you remove Tendulkar you win. Particularly away from home where the rest of the batsman were literally useless. Dravid wasn't anyway near as good as he was now, and Ganguly was never brilliant in tests. Laxman didn't peak till 2001. On top of that the bowlers were extremely placid away from home back then. Whereas a lot of the WI batting relied on Lara, the whole of the Indian team relied on Sachin's batting, because the bowling could very rarely do the job.

 

[Pratters]

Make your mind up

Maybe I should have said a poorer phase of Tendulkar's career because of his inconsistency instead of trough

 

[SJS]

Sachin is head and shoulders above Lara....amongst right handed batsmen ........
I am afraid, however, Sachin is no patch on Lara when they bat left handed

 

[vic_orthdox]

It's interesting how more Australians seem to think that Lara is the better player (at least around here, from what I can gather). Think this is caused by, what could almost be called, a "fear" of Lara and what he could do, the knowledge that he can, and has, singlehandedly won games for the West Indies against us, and other sides.

Tendulkar doesn't inspire the same awe in Australia. It's more of a case of "Geez he's fantastic to watch" or "Wow he's a great player", rather than with Lara, it's "We've got to get Lara out, otherwise they're still in this".

I think, especially in home conditions, that if Australia bowl well, they'll be able to keep a lid on Sachin. There's more a feeling of helplessness about Lara - that if he gets going, there's nothing that can be done to stop him.

 

[Shoaib]

My list of top 10 batsmen of all time:
Donald Bradman
Brian Lara
Rahul Dravid
Viv Richards
Javed Miandad
Gary Sobers
Sachin Tendulkar
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Steve Waugh
Hanif Mohammad

 

[Slats4ever]

It's interesting how more Australians seem to think that Lara is the better player (at least around here, from what I can gather). Think this is caused by, what could almost be called, a "fear" of Lara and what he could do, the knowledge that he can, and has, singlehandedly won games for the West Indies against us, and other sides.

Tendulkar doesn't inspire the same awe in Australia. It's more of a case of "Geez he's fantastic to watch" or "Wow he's a great player", rather than with Lara, it's "We've got to get Lara out, otherwise they're still in this".

I think, especially in home conditions, that if Australia bowl well, they'll be able to keep a lid on Sachin. There's more a feeling of helplessness about Lara - that if he gets going, there's nothing that can be done to stop him.

I agree with much of what you have to say. I think australians and others realise that if lara commits a hundred percent to the job at hand and really focus's he's unstoppable. This is shown in his ability to compile bfs (big f*ing scores), whilst Tendulkar can be contained.

 

[James]

I agree with much of what you have to say. I think australians and others realise that if lara commits a hundred percent to the job at hand and really focus's he's unstoppable. This is shown in his ability to compile bfs (big f*ing scores), whilst Tendulkar can be contained.

Language.

 

[archie mac]

My list of top 10 batsmen of all time:
Donald Bradman
Brian Lara
Rahul Dravid
Viv Richards
Javed Miandad
Gary Sobers
Sachin Tendulkar
Inzamam-Ul-Haq
Steve Waugh
Hanif Mohammad

Are they in order? Did you ever see GSC?