Brian Lara

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Brian Lara

Personal information
Full name	Brian Charles Lara
Born	May 2, 1969 (age 44) Santa Cruz, Trinidad
Nickname	Prince
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg-break
Role	Higher middle order batsman
International information
National side	West Indies
Test debut (cap 196)	6 December 1990 v Pakistan
Last Test	27 November 2006 v Pakistan
ODI debut (cap 59)	9 November 1990 v Pakistan
Last ODI	21 April 2007 v England
ODI shirt no.	9
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1987–2008	Trinidad and Tobago
1992–1993	Transvaal
1994–1998	Warwickshire
2010	Southern Rocks
Career statistics
Competition	Test	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	131	299	261	429
Runs scored	11,953	10,405	22,156	14,602
Batting average	52.88	40.48	51.88	39.67
100s/50s	34/48	19/63	65/88	27/86
Top score	400*	169	501*	169
Balls bowled	60	49	514	130
Wickets	–	4	4	5
Bowling average	–	15.25	104.00	29.80
5 wickets in innings	0	0	0	0
10 wickets in match	0	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	–	2/5	1/1	2/5
Catches/stumpings	164/–	120/–	320/–	177/–
Source: cricinfo.com, 4 February 2012

Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM (born 2 May 1969, in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago) is a former West Indian international cricketplayer.^[1][2] He is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshireagainst Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history.^[3]

Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004.^[4] He is the only batsman to have ever scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games over the course of a senior career.^[5][6] Lara also holds the test record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match, when he scored 28 runs off an over by Robin Peterson of South Africa in 2003.^[7]

Lara's match-winning performance of 153 not out against Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999 has been rated by Wisden as the second best batting performance in the history of Test cricket, next only to the 270 runs scored by Sir Donald Bradman in The Ashes Test match of 1937.^[8] Muttiah Muralitharan, rated as the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack,^[9] and the highest wicket-taker in both Test cricket^[10] and in One Day Internationals (ODIs),^[11] has hailed Lara as his toughest opponent among all batsmen in the world.^[12] Lara was awarded the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World awards in 1994 and 1995^[13] and is also one of only three cricketers to receive the prestigious BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, the other two being Sir Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne.^[14]

Brian Lara was appointed honorary member of the Order of Australia on 27 November 2009.^[15] On 14 September 2012 he was inducted to theICC's Hall of Fame at the awards ceremony held in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a 2012-13 inductee along with Australian Glenn McGrath and former England women all-rounder Enid Bakewell.^[16][17]

Brian Lara is popularly nicknamed as "The Prince of Port of Spain" or simply "The Prince".^[18] He has the dubious distinction of playing in second highest number of test matches (63) in which his team was on losing side, just behind Shivnarine Chanderpaul (68).^[19]