Brian Lara honoured

Elmo Rodrigopulle from the West Indies

Brian 'King' Charles Lara, who used his bat like a wand to perform batting magic, and entertain and hold spellbound cricketers and cricket fans everywhere he played was honoured by the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board on Sunday night at the Hilton, Trinidad, St. Ann.

This time last year Lara was a big hit, when he led his team into the second round of the World Cup 2007. When he failed to move his team forward from there, his critics went hard at him and won the day when they bayed for his blood and finally had him dethroned.

Here are excerpts of a speech Lara made at the Function.

Records don't mean anything to me. I had one more match to 300, forty something more runs to 12,000. Tendulkar was just around the corner in hundreds. I was lucky to have achieved so much individually and very unlucky not to achieve much as a team.'

Incidentally Lara broke Sir Garfield Sobers' individual batting record of 365, which stood for decades by making 375 against England. And then when Australian Matthew Hayden went past that score with 380 against Zimbabwe, stung to the quick it did not take long for Lara to push that record aside and make an incredible 400 also against England. He also has a score of 501.

'It's great playing cricket for you. That's why I played the game. I played to entertain. I played the game for the people of the Caribbean, I played the game for the fact that it put the smiles on the guys (fans) faces.

Lara also revealed that he left the game he loved so much on his own volition. He also said that he enjoyed playing for the West Indies and he thought it was time that the Windies moved on under a new captain.

Lara also said that his low point in his career was when his team lost all five Tests to South Africa in 1996 in SA. His high point came he said when he was placed on probation as captain and delivered by saying that the 213 in Jamaica before a hostile Jamaican crowd that was his best.

Lara went on to praise the present West Indian team for their triumphs over Sri Lanka and congratulated them.

An apparently moved Lara concluded by saying that he would have loved to walk on a cricket field with Sir Garfield Sobers, or behind Clive Lloyd or Sir Frank Worrell. Sir Garfield Sobers who helped Lara in his career described the exciting left hander as a great player, captain and friend.

Sobers went on to say that had Lara been batting in Guyana against Sri Lanka in the first Test, they would not have made 281, they would have drawn the game, and would have won the series.

Clive Lloyd who led the Windies when they were kings of the game in the 70s and 80s paid Lara a glowing tribute by describing him as a good captain who did not always get the support from the players, and a great batsman.

Derryck Murray the former wicket keeper and President of Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board also spoke.

Among the distinguished gathering were President George Maxwell Richards and first lady, Dr. Jean Richards, as well as Sports Minister who is also minister for Youth Affairs Garry Hunt.

Trinidad and Tobago, Wednesday