Lara: The agony and the ecstasy

Admired for their cricketing feats, they have been unable to find the words and deeds to command the same respect elsewhere. It is the fate of genius to be patronised for it discovers not the wisdom of the ages but the glories of youth.

Lara has been the most frustrating of these extraordinary left-handers because something more than genius was needed from him. West Indian cricket yearned for a man of stature and found instead a batsman of brilliance. Unwilling to trust the passing of time, clinging to youth as if it were a case containing his precious talent, the Trinidadian resisted his maturity, railed in the face of growing responsibility.

No day, though, can be judged till night has fallen. Lara remains a wonderful batsman and talks more often these days and with apparent sincerity about his desire to lead West Indian cricket from the wilderness.

His batting remains formidable. At the ripe old age of 34 Lara continues to dazzle and occasionally to crash. Awaken his spirit, present him with a challenge, say his position is under threat and then he can bat as few men have ever batted. He continues to play innings that demand the concentration and eyes of a younger man.

Lara broke the record at 24 and then broke it again a decade later. Between times he has waxed and waned, impressed and disappointed, infuriated and delighted. Perhaps his mammoth effort in Antigua heralded the end of his personal journey and the start of his emergence as a man. After all he has nothing more to prove, as a batsman anyhow.

Lara8217;s career has been characterised by the contrasting forces of commitment and capriciousness. His inconsistency has mystified those incapable of batting as he can, like a bird soaring through the skies. His waywardness prevented him taking the leap to greatness. Since his return from a wilderness more emotional than cricketing, the Trinidadian has embarked upon has true journey, the task of rebuilding West Indian cricket.

On the way up a man thinks only of himself and his place in the rankings. Eventually he looks around and realises that there is more to life than runs on the board. Belatedly Lara has started to think about his legacy.

Of course Lara was not entirely to blame for the unsatisfactory nature of his early years. His first misfortune is that he has played his cricket in the age of scrutiny so that his lifestyle has been subjected to the examination previously reserved for public affairs.

Bradman had his fights and failings but his idiosyncrasies were overlooked because his country needed a hero and because his team won most of its matches. Lara has played in a time or prurience and puritanism. Not that he can be absolved of blame for he has tested the patience of his most devoted supporter.

Lara8217;s second stroke of bad luck lies in the mediocrity that has surrounded him, indulging him even as it depended upon his exceptional abilities. West Indian cricket lacked the structures required to absorb its prodigal son. Exquisite at the crease, Lara8217;s timing has let him down off the field, a fact he was slow to realise. Alas he was even slower to accept his responsibilities.

Doubtless self-absorption is often detected in those blessed with exceptional talent. Lara craved the freedom of youth, wanted to party and chase the girls and follow his whims like so many of the legends of Carribean cricket.

As with Shane Warne, the frivolous existed alongside the brilliance, as a counterpoint to it. After all he was a star, the only one in the West Indian firmament. Like Warne he craved attention, wanted to be celebrated and tolerated, was not ready to wear the long face of responsibility.

Lara8217;s wonderful innings in Antigua was memorable for more than the precision of his stroke play. He seemed to be reaching beyond himself in an attempt to restore not merely his reputation but the pride of West Indian cricket. Afterwards he did not glory in his performance, instead pointing out that the series had been lost 3/0. Naturally he was determined to recapture the record yet he seemed to set about the task as much to lift his team as establish his supremacy.

Lara has always been capable of extraordinary feats. Not even Bradman can have batted better through a series that did Lara in Sri Lanka and against Australia in the Carribean. Yet there has been a fragility about him, a wilfulness that can produce magnificence upon the field and foolishness off it. Lara will go into the books as one of the greatest batsmen the game has known. As far as epitaphs go it is fine but insufficient. More is needed from him and in his moment of triumph Lara confronted that truth.

His greatness must reach beyond his batting and into the effect he has upon his players and the game cross the Caribbean.

Certainly it is a responsibility. It is also an opportunity.