Lara’s record, euphoria and reality

While we deeply appreciate this moment of glory, the reality is that we still essentially have a team that has the peculiar capability of breaking records both ways — the highest score ever and the lowest score ever! This glory moment may provide anaesthetic, but we need the cure!

After the grand, spectacular and majestic record-breaking display by Brian Charles Lara at St John’s, Antigua last Sunday and Monday, every West Indian (particularly Trinbago-nians) would have felt a profound sense of personal fulfilment. The man did his thing in style. It was a virtual flawless exhibition of gift, grit and genius. And, of course, in no way could the incredible demonstration of resolve and resilience by the relatively new West Indies cricket captain, escape our eyes. Lara’s basic ability is well known to all of us. But what, ironically, would have added to the thrill and excitement of his 400-run history-making spell last Sunday and Monday, was Lara’s sometimes wavering form, since he broke the Gary Sobers 365-run record ten years ago.

Since then we have seen the best of Lara, and the worst of Lara. In fact, in the matches immediately preceding his latest spectacle, we saw some quite dismal Lara performances at the crease. So when the Prince of Port-of-Spain began to mercilessly frustrate the English bowlers in that “fateful” fourth Test, there would have certainly been mixed feelings as to, “Will he?” “Will he not?” But this time it was to be absolutely no disappointment. Accomplishments of such rare quality always provide us with invaluable lessons, which we all need to heed, relish and cherish. Indeed, Brian Charles Lara was not only batsman at that wicket in St John’s last weekend. In his exceptional act, he was teacher, role model, exemplar and even mentor.

His lessons on the secrets of success, in terms of focus, persistence, resolve, resilience and optimism, could not be measured in magnitude and value. The sense of jubilation, celebration and euphoria is great, and quite understandable. It’s understandable because it’s well deserving. There is the tendency though, for human nature to sometimes be a bit self-deceiving. In this state, our emotions may prove to be a kind of enemy. We find it difficult to weigh and balance a moment of glory, within the context of the realities of the bigger picture, or the broader spectrum. The level of unrealistic expectations produced by this “self-deception,” effectively sets the stage for subsequent disappointment. Our reactions — which are usually vented via our tongues — in such times of disappointment, can easily make us appear to be hypocrites. Lara, the darling today in record-breaking success, could easily be Lara, the devil tomorrow, in failure. West Indies team, the darling today, in a 751-run splendour, could be devil tomorrow, in a 47-run disgrace.

And, mind you, as the situation currently stands, in the reality of West Indies cricket, big success today and big failure tomorrow, are very much a possibility. When Lara first took the West Indies captaincy, many behaved as though the Prince had become a magician and his mysterious wand would bring instant and lasting success to West Indies cricket. History has recorded quite differently. When the star batsman took the captaincy the second time around, expectations were largely just as wild. Again, there has been no magic, in terms of overall team success. When the West Indies pulled off a majestic win over Australia last year (after the latter had already convincingly won the series) the jubilation and euphoria at that moment of glory seemed to have snatched many away from the realm of reality. They saw the West Indies team as having immediately re-ascended to glory days. As far as they were concerned, the success of that match was to be the fixed status of West Indies cricket, from then on.

This time, against England, the scenario is quite similar. After the record-breaking match victory over the Australians, we saw some good days, with our boys. But we also saw some times that we wish we would never remember again. The failure has outweighed the success. The reality is, as sweet as record-breaking glory may be, we are still faced with a West Indies team of huge challenges, and as this column said on April 5, 2003, “The problem with the West Indies team does not have to do with skill, per se, but stability. It’s not necessarily captaincy, but character, culture and consistency. The disturbing paradigm shift must be addressed from the cause-factor angle. This is where Lara, as captain, must pass the test.” Primarily, this writer holds the same position today. There is still a lot of work to be done with the team.

While we deeply appreciate this moment of glory, the reality is that we still essentially have a team that possesses the peculiar capability of breaking records both ways — the highest score ever and the lowest score ever! This glory moment may provide anaesthetic, but we need the cure! The bottom line is, let’s celebrate as much as we desire, when we have occasion to do so, but keep a level, reality-conscious head in the process. It pays to keep in mind that unrealistic expectations sometimes lead to unbearable disappointment. Whatever the challenges, however, let us continue to pray for our team, believe in them . . . and rally ’round the West Indies!