Lara retires from ALL International Cricket

[willi]

You all need to relax.

Lara has many fans all over the Carib...including Jamaica.

The way some here talk, you would think that Jakans hate Trinis!!! Nothing could be further from the truth. The only guilty charge that could stick is that Jakans dont focus too much on the islands, as we have Americatitis.

Holding does NOT speak for Jam., nor does Becca. Sure lots of people criticize Lara there, but they also criticize even Asafa Powell. Like Trinis, everyone acts like a coach in Jam.

Holding is Holding. Many dont agree with his views and I think he tries to be deliberately controversial as it helps his business.

Stop the victim complex I see here. All of our top sportsmen will face severe scrutiny. It is the Caribbean way. When all is said and done, we will all remember the joy that Lara gave us over the 17 years...dont worry about that.

[Pro-Jayz]

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161134027

NO ONE CAN TAKE HIS PLACE
Sadness as Lara goes
Kern De Freitas

Monday, April 23rd 2007


The West Indies' 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup campaign is over, but one of the "saddest" moments of the tournament for Trinidad and Tobago and West Indies batsman Lendl Simmons was to see Brian Lara retire after their last Super Eights match in Barbados on Saturday.

Simmons remained hopeful that even with Lara out of the Caribbean squad, there are players who can step up and perform for the West Indies. But he was cautious as to whether that can happen on the upcoming tour to England.

"That we'll have to wait and see, because there will be a few changes in the team seeing that Brian is gone. I don't think anyone can take Lara's place with his class and his ability to dominate the bowlers."

Simmons was one of four T&T players on the West Indies squad returning home yesterday following their final match, a thriller which the regional side lost to England by one wicket. Wicket-keeper Denesh Ramdin, allrounder Dwayne Bravo, and batsman Kieron Pollard also arrived at Piarco International Airport yesterday.

Former West Indies skipper Lara stayed on in Barbados, where the World Cup final will be played on Saturday at Kensington Oval.

"It was a very sad feeling to know that one of the greatest batsmen that ever lived is leaving the game," Simmons told the Express yesterday. "Just watching him bat, talking to him, getting some experience was great, and it is a sad feeling knowing that he is going."

Simmons also revealed it was difficult to watch Lara play his last match, the end of an era that saw some of the most scintillating batting of modern cricket.

"Well, I didn't see any great emotional expressions from him," Simmons explained, "but I put myself in his shoes and listened to him talk, saying his time had come, and knowing how much he has done in the game, I felt it more than he did."

Simmons, the 22-year-old T&T opener, made his World Cup debut in his only game against New Zealand, finishing unbeaten on 14, with the West Indies posting 177.

"I was looking forward to playing more. My performance was satisfactory, because of where I came in (at number eight) in the order. But the World Cup was not good for us as a team," he said.

He admitted the mood in the West Indies camp was not good at the beginning of the Super Eights, saying it improved during their last three matches.

"...the spirit of the team was down before we left (for the two-day break)," he disclosed, after their game against Sri Lanka in Guyana on April 1. "We got the break, and when we came back it was a different vibes in the camp, it was a better feeling."
   

 

[Jah Gol]

I am not a cricket person but I hate to see WI lose. To be honest with you the scant attention I used to pay to the game will vanish into space now. Lara batting is watching Jordan in the NBA final with seconds on the clock. Its like watch Ronaldinho dance with a ball at his feet. It's like watching Ali drop Foreman again and again and again. To put it simply he was world class and beyond cricket. At times he looked like an artist more than anything else. It has very little to do with the fact that he is Trini, I just don't see anyone else creating that kind of spectacle..

Now that he is gone, to me cricket will continue to be a fun game to play and a boring game to watch. I won't lie to you there's a place in my heart that wants West Indies Cricket to run into the ground - to experience new depths of failure and embarrassement. "They deserve no less a thing for the venom they spewed," I thought.  "Dem Yardies and Bajans should all go to hell," precipitated from the former. Both thoughts were birthed in a moment of cruel ambivalence - a moment to honour was also a moment to recall their words and deeds. Nevertheless good sense prevailed. I considered the fact that Lara is 37 years old and ought to move on any way. If for nothing else it should be for the reason of forcing another to come into 'greatness'

I feel that justice and accountability ought to be the focus at this point. After this WC debacle finger pointing has become a neccessary good. The Board, the Selectors and the coach all failed but I suppose ivory tower are built in the Caribbean too.

My frustration is short lived. I am happy to write this message in recognition of The Great One from Santa Cruz. No tears were shed upon his run out, nothing but a smug look and a steups- this (Samuels) is what  some want this man to go the England to play for, I certainly don't.

Lara is probably one of a few people in the world who knows what he's doing or in this case did is what he was born to do. He was an artist who became a prince. Now he is a king.

Hail Brian Charles Lara, Prince of the bat, King of the Caribbean !!

[Feliziano]

Lara bout 50 runs from 12,000 test runs
that true?
whats the Test record now btw?

[weary1969]

47 runs away from 12000. The record is 11953 Lara's retirement score 

[capodetutticapi]

lara will play again.

[palos]

lara will play again.

Not for West Indies. 

They don't deserve him.