Once again, West Indies cricketers are grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons. This month the team was embarrassingly swept aside in all three Tests – by an innings and 114 runs, by 241 runs, and finally, by 10 wickets – in England, as its descent into previously unknown territory continues unabated. Though the result was not unexpected, it is still very humiliating and there is another wellspring of shame and controversy spreading its ugly wings off the field.
The source of this burgeoning dissension is a book which has created quite a stir in the brotherhood of past players. Titled “Lara: The England Chronicles”, the autobiographical tome by all-time leading West Indies Test run scorer, and three-time former Test Captain Brian Lara was launched on 2nd July, just prior to the commencement of the recent England/West Indies Test series. It has received many glowing reviews from among others, former England Test Captain Mike Atherton, and leading Australian cricket writer Gideon Haigh, who observed, “No one batted like Brian Lara, and few cricketers have talked so openly of their lives and their drives – a book worth waiting for.”
The promo on the back cover promises a “… definitive account of Lara’s incredible career against England as well as for Warwickshire in county cricket.” According to Wisden’s website, “Lara: The England Chronicles tells the story of the Trinidadian’s extraordinary career against and in England in his own words – unfiltered and unrestrained.” The batting legend made fodder of England’s Test attacks, twice feasting on them to set world records for the highest score in a Test innings, 375 (1994), and 400 not out (2004). The latter, the first quadruple century in the history of Test cricket, still stands. Notably, Lara attempts to smother the myth that he played for himself and was foremost only interested in personal records.
“What motivated me to make runs, always, was the team. Any time I went away from that, turned a bit inward, started thinking about my name on honours boards and things like that, then I’d fall apart. A man doesn’t play cricket by himself. Nor should he play it for himself. Cricket isn’t golf or tennis. It’s not about grand slams and individual titles. Cricket is an expression of collective action, or it’s nothing at all,” he wrote.
Lara’s book appears to be the reflection of a pained superstar searching for the love of his fans, not all of whom were forthcoming with the love and respect, normally accorded to one blessed with such gifts of genius. He wrote: “Even as I’m speaking, I can feel what it means. I know what I’m really saying. I can hear it in my voice. Some of the crowd won’t pick it up, but a good number will. I’m saying that I didn’t quite achieve what I set out to do. At least did I entertain you? Did I at least bring a little pleasure and joy through the way I played the game? At least offer some hope to people who lived vicariously through the successes and greatness of West Indies cricket, whose daily moods ebbed and flowed depending on the fortunes of their team? I brought some pride and identity to Caribbean people when I did well, right? At least I did that? At least, at least.”
Lara opted to collaborate with Englishman Phil Walker, who is currently the editor-in-chief of Wisden Cricket Monthly, and whose work has also appeared in the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, ESPNcricinfo, and the Guardian newspaper. Whether this decision was driven by the publisher or financial considerations, unfortunately, it continues the sad trend of Caribbean history being documented, influenced, or driven from a perspective, which is not necessarily our own, per se. It begs the question, whether in this day and age, there aren’t any talented West Indian writers who could have filled the breach? It does appear to juxtapose the thoughts Lara has on who we are as a people.
“If the period between the wars was about black West Indians fighting for a spot in the team,” he wrote, “and the fifties and sixties about showing our colonial masters that we can govern ourselves, then the seventies and eighties were about showing the world that when we’re strong and united, we’re untouchable.”
Two of Lara’s former teammates, Sir Viv Richards and Carl Hooper are very disturbed over some of the claims in the memoir. Lara asserted that Richards’ words in the dressing room could “intimidate” players, though he made it clear that Richards, as captain, always had the betterment of West Indies cricket at heart. “Viv used to make me cry every three weeks, but he would make Carl cry once a week.
Viv’s tone of voice is intimidating and if you’re not strong enough, you can take that personally and be affected by it. Me, I was never really affected by it. In a way I welcomed it, because I was a strong personality. Carl? I know for a fact that Carl shied away from Viv Richards,” he wrote.
Whether these claims are true or not, it is tantamount to telling tales out of school, or worse, out of a professional sportsman’s dressing room, the supposed domain of grown men. It is an unwritten code of conduct that what happens in those private enclaves stays there. This is in stark contrast to Lara’s pronouncement of being “a strong personality”. It actually reads more like a ruse to gain sympathy over the fact that he was never selected to play in a Test captained by Richards. Or is it just plain jealousy of the tight bond which Hooper, his peer, shared with Richards?
In a joint statement issued on 21st July, the two former West Indies captains rejected Lara’s claims as categorically false and asked for “a sincere apology for the harm caused”. They accused Lara of “attempting to profit from deceit”, something they find inconceivable given the stature he enjoys in world cricket.
The statement read, in part, “Sir Vivian Richards and Mr Carl Hooper are deeply disheartened by the gross misrepresentations made about them in Mr Brian Lara’s recently released book. The allegations presented not only distort the reality of their relationship but also impugn their characters in an unjust and harmful manner.
“Sir Vivian, as Mr Hooper’s first captain, has never caused emotional distress to Mr Hooper. On the contrary, he has always acted as an encouraging mentor and provided unwavering support. Their nearly 40-year relationship has been founded on mutual respect and camaraderie. The misrepresentation of their interactions in Mr Lara’s book is a grave disservice to the truth and has caused undue distress to both parties and their families.”
Thus, Viv and Hooper demanded “… that Mr Lara immediately issues a public retraction of these false claims and offers a sincere apology for the harm caused.” They said that it was crucial for the integrity of public discourse and their personal and professional lives that the truth came out.
The gauntlet has been thrown down, and this ‘Test’ can go on for several days, possibly months. Controversy has dogged Lara throughout his career, especially off the field. There was the coverup by Manager Wes Hall and his teammates when he temporarily abandoned the 1995 Tour of England. His exit from the team became public knowledge when the WICBC fined him ten percent of his tour fees following the submission of Hall’s report. Lara immediately withdrew from the 1995/1996 World Series Cricket event in Australia 48 hours before the team’s departure, and was later given carte blanche to return whenever he wished. Upon this decision, Richards observed, “The WICBC is creating a monster that threatens to undermine all the toil we put in to make us world champions.”
And then there was the Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture he delivered at Lord’s on 4th September, 2017 (“It’s just not cricket”/ SN Editorial, 13th September, 2017) in which he threw his illustrious West Indies teammates of the 1980s and 1990s unbeaten juggernaut under the bus. He claimed to have been “truly embarrassed” by the behaviour of the team he represented, whom he stopped just short of accusing of cheating. He described his role as twelfth man in the 1990 Test between England and the West Indies at the Oval in Port-of-Spain as “one of the saddest moments in the world.” The foreign press subsequently had a field day with Lara’s airing of dirty laundry in public.
The bad blood which was alleged to have existed between Lara and Richards had been spilt in the open. Now it has escalated and is unlikely to end here. This can easily become a raging forest fire unless the West Indies board – which Lara accused in the Lord’s lecture of being responsible for the decline of our cricket – gets involved to pour oil on these troubled waters.
At the Caricom Regional Cricket Conference held in Port-of-Spain on 25th and 26th April, Lara, like past legends Sir Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Sir Viv sent a video message of support, in which he stated, “… rest assured that in the future whenever needed I’m available, but I don’t come cheaply.” Though the latter clause was accompanied by a wry smile, he didn’t appear to be joking, but even if he was, it was in extremely poor taste, bearing in mind the theme of the conference (“Reinvigorating West Indies Cricket”), the current state of West Indies cricket, and the wholesale desperation to fix it.
Controversy of his own making, more often than not, continues to dog Mr Brian Lara. This time around, it appears that he has backed too far out of the crease.
