Tributes flow in for Lara

The cricket world has paid tribute to legendary batsman Brian Lara, after he retired from international cricket this week.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting led the chorus of praise heaped upon the batsman as he enters the next phase of his life.

“I’ve always thought of him and Sachin as being the two greatest batsmen I’ve ever played against and for different reasons,” said Ponting.

“Brian has got the ability to just turn it on when he wants and take an attack apart.

“The thing that probably a lot of people don’t think much about with Brian Lara is that he basically had the weight of that whole team on his shoulders for the best part of 10 years now. He has had to carry the side almost by himself.”

Fellow captain Stephen Fleming echoed his Australian counterpart’s sentiments.

“He has been a wonderful player and he has been a wonderful ambassador to the game as well. He has played the game in a very good spirit but played in an entertaining way,” he told the AAP

“I heard him give a quote saying that he wanted to be an entertainer and he was everything and more in that sense.

“He was a player who created interest in New Zealand and around the world so he brought players to the game.

“From a left hander’s point of view he was inspirational. He was a wonderful player to watch and to play against. It’s sad to see him go.”

Former West Indian great Wes Hall also paid tribute to the man they called “The Prince”.

“I am lost for words. He was a great servant to West Indies cricket. His legacy is fantastic, a great batsman, 400 in a test, 501 in first-class cricket, I mean it’s a big legacy.”

ICC chief Malcolm Speed also hailed Lara: “The word ‘great’ can be overused but in Brian Lara’s case it is definitely merited,” he said.

“As a batsman, he has provided superb value to all fans of the game over 17 years. It is always sad when a player leaves the stage, especially when it is someone of Brian’s stature, but he has left us with some fantastic memories and for that cricket owes him a great deal.”

Rahul Dravid, the Indian captain, spoke of the genius of Brian Lara after his memorable innings of 216 against Pakistan late last year, in what turned out to be his second last Test.

“Along with Sachin, Lara is one of the best players of my generation. I actually watched a bit of his innings and his play against spinners was sensational,” said Dravid after the second Test in Pakistan.

“You are always picking up finer points but it is difficult to match him. He is somebody you can admire but can’t copy. At my age it is difficult for me to bat the way Lara does.”

England captain Michael Vaughan, whose innings of 79 helped end Lara’s career on a sour note, spoke of how good Lara was for so many years.

“He’s a genius. There are not many geniuses in the game and we’re losing one today, so we all wish him well. He’s scored a lot of runs against us and it will be nice to play against the West Indies without him,” Vaughan told the BBC.

“He’s done wonders for the game of cricket worldwide, not only in the Caribbean.”

Lara finishes his celebrated 131 test match career with 11953 runs and an average of 52.88. In the shorter form of the game he played 299 matches, scoring 10405 runs at 40.48.