Background

There were 11 children in Brian's family. The Harvard Coaching Clinic enrolled him as a young boy for weekly Sunday coaching sessions at the age of six when his father Bunty and older sister Agnes Cyrus enrolled him there. Lara was therefore exposed to correct batting techniques at a very early age. As a child, Lara attended the Roman Catholic elementary school St. Joseph's. His next schooling was at San Juan secondary school on Moreau Road in Lower Santa Cruz. In the following year, at 14 years of age, he joined Fatima College, where he began to develop as a promising young player under Mr. Harry Ramdass.

First Appearance

Lara represented West Indies in Under-19 cricket. Lara made his test debut against Pakistan on 6 Dec 1994, scoring 44 and 6. He faced the legends Imran Khan and Wasim Akram on this day. It was also a day when Pakistani speedsters were impressed by the batting of Brian Lara. Months earlier, he had also scored a century against Pakistan in his ODI debut.

Ascend to Glory

It was in Sydney in January 1993 that Lara displayed his class by scoring 277 points against Australia. A century by him turned the tide of the series, with the West Indies winning 2-1.

In his career, Brian has set several records for three-digit runs. In test cricket, Lara is the only player to register 400 wickets. As of today, he has nine double test centuries, which ranks third behind Donald Bradman's 12 and Kumar Sangakkara's 11.

Low Point

It is common for players to experience highs and lows throughout their careers, and the West Indies legend was no different. He was overweight and suffering from hamstring issues after playing regularly for a number of years. As a result, he had to take a break to recover from that issue. Therefore, he took 4 months off to rest and recover.

His career had another low point in March 2005 when Lara declined selection for the West Indian side due to a sponsorship dispute, but later returned and scored 196. Consequently, he lost his captaincy to Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Captaincy

Lara was named captain of the West Indies team in 1998. A player revolt over delayed pay led to his dismissal the following year, but he rebuilt his reputation by captaining the team again against Australia the following year.

During the series, he scored three hundred in three consecutive matches and was named Man of the Series. It ended in a draw of 2–2.

In 2000, Brian decided to take a four-month break from cricket to resign as captain of the Indies side. In 2003, he was reappointed captain. In September 2004, his captaincy helped the West Indies win the ICC Champions Trophy.

Lara's Record

Among Brian Lara's many achievements, here are some that stand out

• One of the first cricketers to score seven centuries in eight first-class innings.
• This player is the first to score 400 runs in the history of Test Cricket. Additionally, he made the highest individual test score as a batsman and captain with this record.
• Among the fastest batsmen to reach 10,000 and 11,000 Test runs.
• The only West Indian to have 34 tons in Test Cricket.
• He is the first West Indian cricketer to score over 10,000 runs in Test matches.
• A world record holder along with Australia's George Bailey in most runs scored in a single test match.
• The number one batsman in Test cricket several times, he averages more than 50 runs per innings.

Retirement

Brian Lara announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on 19 April 2007; the West Indies vs England match played on 21 April 2007 was his last international match.