Greatness Not Out

By John Cheeran
When you discuss the batting greats of the game, only a few would bring up Allan Border’s name. Despite scoring 11,174 runs in Test cricket, Border never touched greatness; neither did he aspire for that tag.
Brian Lara has surpassed Border’s Test aggregate. Lara is standing at 11,187 not out.
Even if Lara had failed to become the highest scorer in Test cricket, few would have disputed the greatness of this Trinidadian.
Arguments still rage over who is the best modern batsman; if opinion polls were the yardstick India’s Sachin Tendulkar would have won that test.
But I would vote for Lara for the string of defining innings he has played when West Indies were in the doldrums.
I wonder how England or India would have celebrated Lara, had he born there.
I have a feeling that Trinidad has not been big enough for Batsman Lara or Brand Lara.
Lesser batsmen have been glorified elsewhere.
And I dread to raise the question what if Lara had born in Calcutta!
Soon, Tendulkar would catch up with Lara; or someone else.
But the West Indian would always remain one of the finest batsman cricket has ever seen.
Read Tony Cozier on Lara in Trinidad Express.
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_sports?id=118863786