Brian Lara's 400: A legendary achievement by a legendary player
Brian Lara is the only batsman in the history of cricket to create the record for the highest individual Test score twice in his career. When he broke Matthew Hayden’s world record of 380 and became the first batsman in the history of Test cricket to hit a quadruple century, the event took the entire cricket fraternity by storm. It was the return of the King of Test cricket to his throne.
Lara’s big scoring heroics in Test cricket
Brian Lara is counted amongst the best Test batsmen ever and had a unique hunger for scoring big whenever he got set. He first created waves in international cricket by scoring a mammoth 277 against Australia in 1993, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. That knock came against a strong bowling line-up comprising of the likes of Shane Warne and Craig McDermott, and during the knock it became pretty clear that Lara was a special cricketing talent.
Lara used to score very quickly and look to dominate the bowlers, enabling him to amass big totals in Test cricket. His high backlift enabled him to hit shots with great power all around the ground, and he could tear apart any bowling line-up on his day.
The West Indian first got the world record for the highest individual score by racking up 375 against England in 1994, breaking the record of another Carribean legend, Sir Gary Sobers. England's then wicketkeeper Jack Russell had this to say on Lara’s knock: "The ball never looked like missing the middle of his bat". Graham Thorpe, also in the England side, commented: "There was an inevitability about it all."
Lara scores 400 and reclaims his Test record
West Indies had become a vulnerable side in the 2000s and were being dominated by England on their own soil in the 2004 series. The visitors had pummelled West Indies up to the third Test of the series, winning all the matches easily to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
West Indies had failed to put up any sort of resistance against the vastly superior English bowling line-up comprising of the likes of Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard and Simon Jones. Lara himself was troubled by a bodyline attack by the English quartet.
Entering the final Test, Lara commented that "the next five days are very important in terms of my future as captain. No captain, no team, wants to go down for the first time in their history as losing all their Test matches at home”.
In the fourth Test at Antigua, West Indies were in trouble again, having lost their first wicket with the total at 33. The England bowlers had been in fiery form and Lara, coming in at No. 3, was beaten by Harmison early on. However, once he settled down, it was apparent he wanted to score big.
And boy, what a knock it turned out to be! Lara thrashed the English bowlers to all corners of the ground and ended up scoring 400 runs. The knock which included 43 fours and four sixes came at a great strike rate of around 69 runs per 100 balls.
West Indies went on to dominate that Test match and made England follow on for the first time in the series, but ultimately held on to a draw and saved the match.
Here are the highlights of that once-in-a-lifetime knock.
The celebrations ring in
The applause for his knock resonated throughout the cricketing world. Past cricketers, fans and current players alike lined up to congratulate Lara’s massive effort. Matthew Hayden, whose record Lara broke, also congratulated him.
"I spoke to Brian over the phone and passed on my congratulations for a truly amazing effort," said Hayden. "I feel proud to know he's conquered me with such an awesome performance.”
"I wanted to let him know how appreciative I was when he contacted me in Perth last October. I thought it was only appropriate that I pass on my own best wishes to him,” the Australian added.
Can we see another Lara-esque innings in the future?
As a cricket fan, it is fun to think about the possibility of someone else challenging Lara’s record and breaking the 400-run barrier again. Amongst current day cricketers, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle are amongst a few names that come to mind, who can possibly challenge this score. If it happens in the near future, it will be surely a sight to behold.