West Indies legend Brian Lara has revealed the defining moment that saw his batting average in the twilight of his career when most batsmen are going the other way.
Kerry O’Keeffe asked Lara what was the secret to improving his batting as he got older when most batsmen fall as their hand-eye coordination begins to fade.
“Brian (Lara) you improved your Test average from 49 to 52 from 34 to 37, your twilight,” O’Keeffe said on Fox Cricket.
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“Have you made any technical changes?”
“No, it was more of a mental change,” Lara replied.
“I was leaving behind all the baggage.
“I remember it started around 1999 when we played Australia in the Caribbean. I went into that Test series having lost five Test matches as captain.
“I was on probation. We lost the first test against Australia in Trinidad and Tobago.
“From there it was a defining moment in my career and my whole psyche in the game and the way I handled it mentally was completely different.
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“That’s the main reason for the second chapter of my career, where I moved that average because I started with 65 (average) after scoring 375 and scoring a lot of runs in 1994 and 1995.
“I dipped and then came back, but it was mostly through a tougher mental approach for the last six or seven years of my career.”
Mark Howard couldn’t resist a cheeky dig at Lara citing his then world score of 375.
“Do you like how he threw 375 there,” Howard said.
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“We haven’t gotten to 400 or 500 yet. I don’t think we have time.”
O’Keeffe joked that Lara’s average would have been even higher had Carl Hooper not dismissed him for his infamous 277 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
“If Carl Hooper hadn’t run him out in Sydney on 277, he would have got 600,” O’Keeffe said.
“That’s what Warnie was saying, they would never have put him out,” Howard added.
Lara was asked about the technical changes Steve Smith has made to correct some flaws in his game ahead of the Test summer.
“How difficult is it to implement a change in your game as a Test cricketer?” Howard asked.
“It’s not hard at all,” Lara said.
“As a Test cricketer when you realize something is going wrong, you work on it.
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“If you are a cricketer or any form of the game, you want to improve all the time. You want to stay one step ahead of the opposition.
“You can’t just be a target of the opposition. That’s how he hits. These are his weaknesses.
“You have to develop your strengths and for me he has done an outstanding job.
“You can see it in his attitude. Look where his right leg is. He found himself far in the past. This makes him very vulnerable.
“Here he didn’t have a lot of power on his pull shot and an easy offload.
“Cricket and batting is a side game and to hang in there as much as possible is important.
“The minute you start going out, you’re asking for trouble.”
