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*Congratulations* Brian Lara 10,000 Test Runs!

Revelation

U19 Debutant
Ponting above Lara??Kallis above Lara?? Dravid above Lara?? They are fantasic players yes, but they have NEVER and probably will NEVER have to go through what he has had to. They're haven't been captain of their squads for any extended period and take a look at every single name mentioned there. The backup that they have allows them a vast amount of flexibility. Lara has next to no one to support him and apart from the odd occassion, when Lara gets out, it's curtains for WI batting. Australia could be 32/5 and Gilchrist could come slam a century. If WI is 32/5 and Lara is gone, it's going to be 47 all out. Lara is certainly one of the top 5 batsmen of all time and currently, he is the best in the world.
 

Linda

International Vice-Captain
SO who are youre other Best 4?
I would personally put Lara in Top 5 currently, but he'd be pushing it to be in the all time list for mine.
 

garage flower

State Vice-Captain
For me, it's very diffcult because I don't get to watch enough cricket, but I'd have Dravid at 2, probably Sachin at 3 and the other contenders mentioned above in no particular order (though probably leaning towards Hayden due to his overall record and performances on the sub-continent).
 

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
Of course Lara is in the all time top 5.Who else is their to beat him out?Bradman certainly but then....He's soon to be only the 4th batsman ever to score 10,000 Test truns.He has 26 centuries and that's going to improve to more than 30.Currently has the FC and Test records for the highest individual score.Only the second batsman ever to score two triple centuries and the only to score a quadruple century.Isn't that enough to get him in there?
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
Swervy said:
have a look at the score card...you will see Lara was OUT at Lords and Gayle was OUT.

Its a part of cricket,get over it
If the scorecard was right all the time there'd be no point analysing stuff the way we do.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
I'm not sure about Lara and All Time top 5 - seeing as a lot of people don't even rate him best of his generation, and the people that they rate better wouldn't make best 5 of all time IMO.

He's definitely an all time great, but one of the all time 5, I wouldn't be so sure.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Revelation said:
Dravid above Lara?? .
personally i dont see any reason why dravid wont be better than lara by the end of his career, that is if he continues in the same vein as he is now......
 

tooextracool

International Coach
roseboy64 said:
He's soon to be only the 4th batsman ever to score 10,000 Test truns.He has 26 centuries and that's going to improve to more than 30.Currently has the FC and Test records for the highest individual score.Only the second batsman ever to score two triple centuries and the only to score a quadruple century.Isn't that enough to get him in there?
personally none of those milestones make players an all time great....border has scored the most runs but is he amongst the top 5? jim laker has the record for taking the most wickets in a test match, again that doesnt even make him the best spinner of all time. IMO all that matters is the consistency of scoring runs against the quality of attacks on the type of wickets.
and no based on current form he isnt the best batsman in the world....dravid is by a long shot
 

Tom Halsey

International Coach
Yes, but Lara is an all time great though - but I agree that milestones mean next to nothing. He isn't in the top 5 IMO.

My top 5 would be:

1) Bradman (obviously)
2) Headley (the black Bradman)
3) Sobers (greatest all rounder ever, great batsman too)
4) Hammond (great all rounder - great batter)
5) Richards (just because of how attacks feared him - and how he could change a game in minutes)

Interesting to see that the WIndies have historically remembered as having great bowlers - but they have 3 of my top 5 batsmen too.
 

Tom Halsey

International Coach
Revelation said:
Lara is certainly one of the top 5 batsmen of all time and currently, he is the best in the world.
No, it is not a certainty, because many people here actually disagree with you.
 

SpaceMonkey

International Debutant
Tom Halsey said:
Yes, but Lara is an all time great though - but I agree that milestones mean next to nothing. He isn't in the top 5 IMO.

My top 5 would be:

1) Bradman (obviously)
2) Headley (the black Bradman)
3) Sobers (greatest all rounder ever, great batsman too)
4) Hammond (great all rounder - great batter)
5) Richards (just because of how attacks feared him - and how he could change a game in minutes)

Interesting to see that the WIndies have historically remembered as having great bowlers - but they have 3 of my top 5 batsmen too.
you missed off Kadeer!
 

Anil

Hall of Fame Member
Tom Halsey said:
Yes, but Lara is an all time great though - but I agree that milestones mean next to nothing. He isn't in the top 5 IMO.

My top 5 would be:

1) Bradman (obviously)
2) Headley (the black Bradman)
3) Sobers (greatest all rounder ever, great batsman too)
4) Hammond (great all rounder - great batter)
5) Richards (just because of how attacks feared him - and how he could change a game in minutes)

Interesting to see that the WIndies have historically remembered as having great bowlers - but they have 3 of my top 5 batsmen too.
agree with your list....the windies have also been known for great batsmen, in addition to the 3 you mentioned, there is lara, walcott, weekes, worrell, kanhai, kallicharan, lloyd, greenidge......all greats of the game....
 

SpaceMonkey

International Debutant
Anil said:
agree with your list....the windies have also been known for great batsmen, in addition to the 3 you mentioned, there is lara, walcott, weekes, worrell, kanhai, kallicharan, lloyd, greenidge......all greats of the game....
People say the WI system needs overhauling due to the current teams lack of quality but the same system didnt have any problems producing that lot did it. I think sometimes when a team has a low point people rush to change things instead of seeing it out.
 

Revelation

U19 Debutant
If Lara can't make your all time 5 then that's a clear case of bias, and regardless of how biased you want to say i am i can say clearly that Lara must be there. What esle can you judge a batsman on but milestones???? Match Dravid or Tendulkar or Ponting or Hayden to EACH of these milestones, then find an extra one to beat Lara. Lara is the best of his generation by a long way and definitely in the top 5 of all time:

1. Debut Test Century: 277 v Austraila AWAY from home in 1993
2. World Test Record : 375 v England, breaking a 36 year old record in 1994. Rated by Wisden as the 10th Best innings in the history of Test cricket
3. World First Class Individual Record: 501* v Durham beating 36 year old record in 1994
4. 7 centuries in 8 First Class innings in 1994, beating many who had 6 from 7
5. Playing against the #1 team in the World in 1999, scored an epic 213 to level the Series 1-1. 213 rated as the 15th best innings in the History of Test Cricket by Wisden
6. In the same series, scored 153* to lead WI to an epic 1 wkt victory and a 2-1 series lead. 153* rated as the 2nd best innings of all time by Wisden.
7. In 2001, Lara had 3 of his innings rated in the top 100 of all time, SECOND ONLY TO BRADMAN, who had 5.
8. In 2001, scored 688 runs in a 3 match series against Sri Lanka, SECOND only to Graham Gooch for aggregate in a 3 match series.
9. In same series, became only the 5th MAN IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME to score a double century and a century in the same match.
10. In 2003, achieved the SECOND HIGHEST TEST average as CAPTAIN, SECOND TO DG BRADMAN.
11. In 2003, claimed the WI record for highest aggregate Test runs, BEATING VIV RICHARDS (whose name has been bandies about as one of the 5 all time greats) AT A HIGHER AVERAGE
12. In 2004, scored a WORLD TEST RECORD 400*, becoming only the SECOND MAN TO SCORE 2 TEST TRIPLES, THE ONLY MAN TO RECLAIM HIS LOST TEST RECORD, AGAIN BECAME ONLY THE SECOND MAN TO HOLD BOTH THE TEST AND FIRST CLASS RECORDS and is now SECOND only to DG BRADMAN in terms of TOTAL DOUBLE CENTURIES scored.
12. In 2004 after scoring 120 vs Bangladesh, became the 6th highest century maker in the HISTORY of the game and the joint WI record holder.
13. In 2004, named as one of the WI 5 CRICKETERS (batsmen, bowlers and wktkprs included) of ALL TIME

NOTICE HOW MANY FIRSTS AND SECONDS THERE ARE IN THIS ANALYSIS. LARA IS ONE OF THE GREATEST 5 BATSMEN OF ALL TIME AND THE BEST OF HIS GENERATION. I CAN'T SEE WHY MANY OF YOU CHOOSE TO IGNORE THIS
 

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
I'm no Lara fan but if you're going to say Dravid and Hayden are better than him then something's wrong with y'all.
 

Swervy

International Captain
i am still going to say Richards is the best batsman I ever saw, irrespective of runs scored, averages etc...but Lara for me is deffo the best batsman of say the last 15 years(yes I do think he is better than Tendulkar..and that isnt anti_India bias :D )

I wouldnt want to say whether he is in the top 5 of all time, coz I never saw some of the greats live,ie Bradman,Headley,Hobbs etc
 

roseboy64

Cricket Web Content Updater
As i said before you're all crazy not to say he's one of the top 5 batsmen ever.At times he's almost like Headley.Carrying the hopes of an entire team and he still scores runs.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Revelation said:
If Lara can't make your all time 5 then that's a clear case of bias

Right, so daring to disagree is now bias?

As a Warwickshire fan who had the pleasure of seeing him in 94 when we won the treble, I can hardly be accused of disliking him, but the fact remains that even amongst his peers he's by no means a clear best, and seeing as nobody has ever put the likes of Dravid, Ponting (and Kadeer) in their all time top 5, how can one put Lara in there for certainty?
 

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