Let me start off saying that it is always hard to compare batsmen of different eras but in my humble opinion, Brian Charles Lara is the greatest that ever picked up a bat. Many will counter and say what about Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar, don't they deserved to be considered?
Yes they do. Certainly if you considered yourself to be any kind of cricket fan, you should be in awe of their individual records. Sir Donald Bradman scored 6,996 runs at an average of 99.94 in a mere 52 Test matches scoring 29 centuries, while Sachin Tendulkar scored 15,921 runs at an average of 53.78 in a mind-boggling 200 Test matches with 51 centuries.
Brian Lara, not to be undone, scored 11,953 runs at an average of 52.88 in 131 test matches with 34 Test match centuries. If Lara had played close to the number of Test matches that Sachin appeared in, he would have easily surpassed him.
That leaves Sir Donald Bradman. When comparing his stats to Brian Lara stats, he blows him away in terms of average 99.94 to 52.88, but to truly measure who is the greatest, more than stats are needed.
Factors such as opponents faced, difficulty of cricket pitches encountered, how technology has changed the game must be considered for comparison. Sir Donald Bradman faced England in 63 out of his 80 innings, who he dominated, while Brian Lara in his 232 innings, faced England and Australia in 58 and 51 innings respectively.
Unlike Bradman, he didn't face one opponent in almost 80 per cent of his Test match innings. We can only speculate how he would done if he had faced other opponents. Lara has shown he can score heavily against any opponent.
Test match pitches play a part too. Seventy years since when Sir Donald Bradman played pitches has gotten better and in some ways difficult for batting. This is due to large part in technology.
With that being said, we should applaud Brian Charles Lara in breaking the World Record Batting Test Match Individual inning twice in 10 years. Breaking the World Record First Class Batting Individual inning six weeks after breaking for the first time the Test Match Individual Batting Inning, which highlighted six centuries in seven innings. He became the first batsman to score a century, double century, triple century, quadruple century and quintuple century in First Class cricket. He shares the record for most triple centuries with Sir Donald Bradman
There will be support on either side, professing each as the greatest ever. In my humble opinion Brian Charles Lara is the greatest ever for the simple fact that while Sir Donald Bradman's batting average is nothing to bypass, I have serious doubts that he would be as successful today.
Christopher Olliverre.
Editor's note: Come September, Brian Charles Lara will be joining the T&T Guardian's columnist team. Will he step out of his crease? We wait to see.
