Lara catches another record

GROS ISLET: Double world batting record holder Brian Lara achieved another record yesterday when he surpassed Sir Vivian Richards as the West Indies fielder with most catches.

Lara achieved the mark when his diving effort at slip to remove Kaushal Lokuarachchi gave him his 123rd Test catch, going past Sir Vivian’s 122. The West Indies captain and Sir Vivian Richards are in a quartet of West Indies cricketers with over a hundred Test catches — the others being Carl Hooper (115) and Sir Garfield Sobers (109). Lara, given his second stint as West Indies captain in March after Hooper was axed, equalled Sir Vivian’s mark with the dismissal of century-maker Marvan Atapattu.

Part-time seamer Wavell Hinds coaxed Atapattu (118) into a loose drive outside off stump, which he nicked straight to Lara at slip. The 34-year-old Lara then took sole possession of the West Indies record with a fine diving catch when Lokuarachchi — driving at medium pacer Corey Collymore — edged low to slip. Sir Vivian Richards claimed his 122 catches in 121 Test appearances, while Lara moves past the mark in his 95th match.  Lara holds both Test and First Class individual batting world records — 375 against England, and 501 not out, for Warwickshire against Durham, only two months apart in 1994.