The Bulletin sits down with West Indies legend Brian Lara to get his thoughts on international cricket
TEST great Brian Lara was on the Gold Coast last week and sat down with the Bulletin to talk about his career, the state of international cricket and his relationship with former Australian rivals.
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TEST great Brian Lara was on the Gold Coast last week ahead of his one-night only show, An Evening with Brian Lara, in Melbourne on November 28.
Widely-regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, the 50-year-old West Indian sat down with the Bulletin to talk about his career, the state of international cricket and his relationship with former Australian rivals.
Q. Welcome to the Gold Coast. Have you spent a lot of time here before?
A. I’ve been to the Coast many times. (I’m here) in between my busy schedule and (travelling to) other states. I’ve been to Australia many times so the Coast is one of my favourite spots.
Q. Why don’t you start by telling us a bit about the show?
A. It’s a great idea to expose my life and career to fans on a big stage. I’ve done small lunches and dinners before but this one is 100 minutes of me and pure me and what I’ve done over the years and my thoughts and feelings about certain things.
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Q. Are there any things in particular you think fans will want to know about?
A. If you put some cricket fans in front of me they will have tons of questions. They’ll want to know all sorts of different things about me and my career so it’s seeing if I can have that really intimate relationship with them. It’s a chance to answer some of their thoughts. It’s really to have that intimate connection with the patrons and make sure they have an enjoyable time. And they leave knowing a little bit more about Brian than they did before. We’ll try to cover as much as possible and entertain the people that attend.
Q. It must be hard to try and condense so many career highlights into a 100-minute show?
A. You hit the nail on the head, they were a lot of highlights, a lot of great moments. I was lucky to have those. Even in defeat, there was some unbelievable experience. Chasing 418 runs in a Test match against Australia in 2003 - being 3-0 down in the series and facing a 4-0 whitewash - was a momentous occasion. It felt like we won the Test series after achieving such a feat. The 2004 Champions Trophy victory (was special). Getting a couple of records under my belt will always be cherished. It’s been a very colourful career where there’s been ups and downs and ebbs and flows, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. I wouldn’t replace it with anybody else’s career and I was just really happy to have had the opportunity to play for the West Indies.
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Q. Do you have any regrets?
A. Obviously if you have another opportunity to do some things differently, you would. But then again, you take those occasions and you say ‘how am I going to do something in the future better?’ and that’s how I look at it. I don’t want to go back and try to re-do things I’ve done in the past, I want to learn from it and move on because there are going to be many, many more encounters, maybe some even more important than back in my playing days. So I take those experiences and I move forward with the lessons that I’ve learnt.
Q. You were part of some fierce battles against Australia. Do you have a different perspective on the country now?
A. You do have a feeling in all cricket-playing countries. If I go back to Johannesburg or if I go to Auckland or London, you get the feeling that you are slightly back at home. These are places that you are accustomed to. You may not have strayed as much back then as you do now … walk the streets and enjoy the place. It’s a whole different atmosphere. Obviously when it’s competitive it’s short, sharp visits and you’re coming up against particular countries. But now I’m down on the Gold Coast, I’m relaxing, I don’t have to train tomorrow or have a match coming up. It’s a different scene. You run into a Glenn McGrath at the Melbourne Cup and it’s a different feeling with what that relationship was back then to what it is now. It’s called the camaraderie of sport, it’s what you gain from it. It’s not just the fierce competition, it’s meeting new people and going to new places.
Q. What do you make of the state of international cricket now?
A. It’s been a long time now, maybe 12 years or so, since T20 has become part of international cricket and I love the effect of it, I love the fact they’ve brought in something that has generated a lot of interest with new spectators and sponsors. That’s been tremendous. With what has been happening lately with the Test league, I really do wish that was happening back in my day because you just keep going and going and everything seems mundane. You play a series against Australia, against Bangladesh, against Zimbabwe, and what’s the real factor behind it? Now there’s a Test championship there’s something to play for. I think that is also a good move by the ICC. Watching some of the present-day cricketers, I’m amazed at the skill and talent and appetite for success. I think the game has grown in all aspects, the ladies’ games has also grown and you see a lot more fierce competitions between the ladies and that’s good for the game in general.
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Q. Is there anything you think could be done to improve international cricket?
A. You had a World Cup where the best teams were playing but I still think you want to see the game grow, you want to see Italy playing against the West Indies or Australia. It’s just a greater feeling. Cricket has been played in England and Australia and these places for hundreds of years but you really want to see the game grow. You want to go to New York and see a full stadium between two cricket-playing nations. That is hard work, I know, and there are steps being made to get good cricket to these countries. That’s all I’d love to see. I’m proud of places like Nepal and Afghanistan for the strides they’ve made over the years.
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Q. What about West Indies cricket - is it headed in the right direction?
A. West Indies, for me, has always produced the best young talent. We have let that young talent down in terms of how we handle that talent, how we bridge the gap from youth cricket or first-class cricket to international cricket. That has always been our problem but we were never short of talent. The present team, under a new coach, a new administration … I spent a couple of days with them and they are anxious, they are a little bit insecure, they really want to do well and want to know how to do well and that’s great for West Indies cricket. Hopefully (coach) Phil Simmons can take this bunch and groom it and get it together because West Indies cricket needs to be strong. I played during a period of decline. It wasn’t the greatest period and you try to keep things afloat. But West Indies cricket don’t deserve to be in the doldrums, we deserve to be up there with the best teams in the world.
Q. Would you ever consider getting back involved in a full time capacity?
A. That’s always a possibility, you never know down the road. But I do play a part at present, I am in contact with players and I’ve spent a couple of days with them. West Indies cricket has been my life and it’s not something that I would turn my back on. Whenever is necessary or whenever it’s called upon, I do turn up and try to do my part. I’ll be in India in December, I’ll be working with staff and I’ll be easily contactable by any of those players. So it’s not to say I’ve washed my hands and have nothing to do with West Indies cricket, it’s been my life and it will remain my life.
Tickets to An Evening with Brian Lara are on sale from $49 via Ticketmaster.
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