Lara woe over poor West Indies

Brian Lara faces up to the media for one last time

Brian Lara has revealed his frustration at ending his glittering career without being able to guide West Indies back to the summit of world cricket.

The 37-year-old called a halt to an international career spanning 17 years and an aggregate of 22,358 international runs following yesterday’s one-wicket defeat to England at a packed Kensington Oval.

That game perhaps mirrored Lara’s experiences with West Indies over the last 10 years with his team showing flashes of brilliance among moments of complacency and ultimately throwing away a winning position.

It typified Lara’s frustration since the last great West Indies team began to break up in the mid-1990s and deprived him of a side capable of exploiting his genius to become consistently successful.

“You try your best and sometimes your best isn’t good enough,” conceded Lara, who ended his career with over 11,000 Test runs and over 10,000 runs in one-day internationals.

“The 10 or 12 years I have spent during the decline in West Indies cricket has been really, really tough. I’ve gone on each and every tour hoping that we could change things, but it didn’t happen.

Brian Lara applauds the many West Indies fans who have supported him over the years

“West Indies people need a strong West Indies team and we haven’t been able to produce that, but at some point in time we’re going to see West Indies back on top and I’ll be 70 or 80 yards away cheering on that team.

“It’s been a tough career and not a lot of successes, but these things happen and I’ve got to move on now.

“West Indies cricket goes deep and unless we lay a proper foundation you’re going to get that situation when on one day we’re spectacular and we can score over 400 runs to win a Test in the fourth innings and the next day we can’t score 60.”

During his spectacular career Lara has hit 34 Test centuries at an average of 52 and 19 one-day international centuries - all in a side who have consistently under-performed during the last decade.

He has become the first player in history to claim the individual Test record twice, firstly scoring 375 against England in Antigua in 1994 and then his memorable innings of 400 at the same ground against identical opponents three years ago.

“The saddest thing in cricket is not achieving what I set out to do which was be a part of a successful team over a long period of time,” explained Lara.

“I had a little taste of it when I started in 1989 until 1995 but the last 12 years have been very disappointing. It’s been very frustrating because that is what I played the game for - to play in a team that was successful.

“We’ve had some glimpses of hope on many occasions and I think this team has got so much talent. The things we have achieved I think no other team in the world could have done, but we can’t put it together consistently and maybe the change that is happening now will help that.”

Brian Lara holds the record for the most runs scored in Test defeats © Getty Images

Lara’s frustration is underlined by the fact he is the leading scorer of runs during defeats in Test history, hitting over 5,000 runs at an average of over 40 yet still tasting that losing feeling on a regular basis.

His record against Australia, consistently the outstanding team in world cricket over the last decade, is also outstanding and underlined his ability to raise himself to a different level when the competition was at its toughest.

In 31 Tests against them Lara averaged 51 with nine centuries, including an innings he regards as the best of his career when he finished unbeaten on 153 to guide West Indies to victory at Barbados in 1999.

For such an illustrious player, it was perhaps ironic he was run out for just 18 in his final innings, but he is happy he has made the right decision.

“I’ve played for a long time. I’ve played over 400 matches for West Indies and I’ve enjoyed it, but I knew it must have come to an end at some point in time,” he stressed.

“It’s been a joy walking out in a stadium in the Caribbean and hearing the support and walking out in Cuttack in India and seeing a West Indian flag and seeing the Indian support.

“I could lay claim to a lot of people who have enjoyed watching me play, people standing outside hotels waiting for me to come out, fans crying when I was leaving.”

Lara is tipped to go into broadcasting initially, perhaps as early as this summer for the West Indies’ tour of England and added: “I’ve enjoyed playing cricket in front of everyone - as long as I have entertained then I’m happy.

“The fact I’ve gone through 17 years of international cricket and I’ve had high and low periods but to put a smile on people’s faces has been important and to see the crowd’s support means I must have done something good.

“I’m just happy I’ve left the game knowing that people are proud of my performances. It’s been a special time and something I’ll always remember.”