Lara towers above all

AMIDST a tidal wave of mediocrity that of late has been West Indian cricket, the Prince of Port-of-Spain Brian Lara has once again proven he is head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, Lara yesterday replaced South African batsman Jacques Kallis as the number one batsman in World cricket. In a highly forgettable home series against the Proteas, the sheer weight of Lara’s runs have been the only cause for West Indian joy as the home side was once again outplayed, out-thought, out-bowled, out-batted and outlasted by the South African visitors. His innings of 176 in the third Test in Barbados lifted him two places above South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and Indian Rahul Dravid.

And despite Lara regaining the number one position in the Test batting rankings, the West Indian side was roundly lambasted by a pair of legendary past Windies bowlers — Michael Holding and  Joel Garner. South Africa won the third Digicel Test match by an innings and 86 runs — the WI’s worst ever defeat to South Africa —which gave the Proteas an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-test series. It was the Windies’ 12th defeat in their last 19 tests with the only wins coming against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. “We have a basic lack of discipline. It is something that is sadly lacking in our game,” former tearaway bowler Holding was quoted yesterday in the Barbadian newspaper the Daily Nation.

“Our current team needs to be more competitive, but it all starts off the field. We are getting a lot of talk but not much action,” a clearly upset Holding said. Holding, a key member of the world-beating Windies of the 1970s and 80s, said he was fearing for the team’s mental state. “Morale in the side must be low. Coming here and being totally outplayed...they have to be rock bottom or even lower.” His teammate, Joel Garner, also said problems off the field were an important factor in the Windies’ woeful state. “The players who take the field are not the only ones at fault.

The game has been going downhill for years and no one has decided to take the bulls by the horn. All the emphasis seems to be on administration and not on the field,” Garner said. Meanwhile, Windies nemesis Andre Nel has moved up 12 places to eighth in the bowling list after his 6-32 in the same match. Glenn McGrath remains at number one ahead of Muttiah Muralitharan.

Top 10 Test batsmen
1 Brian Lara (WI) 886 pts 2 Jacques Kallis (SA) 882 3 Rahul Dravid (Ind) 872 4 Ricky Ponting (Aus) 863 5 Virender Sehwag (Ind) 848 6 Damien Martyn (Aus) 836 7 Adam Gilchrist (Aus) 819 8 Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pkn) 794 9 Younis Khan (Pkn) 757 10 Andrew Strauss (Eng) 751.