West Indies batting great, Brian Lara, after being inducted into the ICC’s Hall of Fame, dedicated the honour to his late father Bunty and siblings — brother Winston and sister Agnes — and said they all played important roles in his development as a cricketer.
“This person you see today before you accepting this Hall of Fame honour is someone he (Bunty) moulded. He ensured that I had everything I needed to succeed as a cricketer and in life, even in trying times,” said Lara of his father, who died before his son played a Test.
“He made a special effort to make sure everything was there. I had to work hard ... but I knew I had strong support.
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“My biggest pain was that he did not see me play a Test match, but having the West Indies team in Trinidad at his funeral was a special tribute to the man who made sure I was given the tools to play this glorious game and make such a lasting contribution,” said Lara while accepting the award on Saturday evening during the function at the Water’s Edge Resort.
The 43-year-old Lara is a living legend in international cricket with 11,953 runs from 131 Tests and another 10,405 from 299 one-dayers.
Lara holds several records, including the one for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history.
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Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings (400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004). He is the only batsman to have scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century.
“Tonight, I had my brother and my sister here with me. Agnes is the one who took me to my first coaching clinic when I was six, and Winston was a role model as a stylish right-handed batsman ... so to have them here is very special,” he said.