Brian Lara © AFP Listen to the interview in full

Just before the West Indies played Australia in the last preliminary game between these two teams in the Carton Series at the Adelaide Oval, (Australia Day - January 26, 2001), Peter Walsh of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation conducted an interview with West Indies batsman Brian Lara at the Adelaide Oval.

The West Indies still have to play a final preliminary game, a very important one, against Zimbabwe (Friday Feb 02) at the WACA, Perth. Whichever of these two teams wins this game will qualify to meet Australia in the finals of the one-day competition.

This was only the second interview given by Lara all Australian summer, the other being for Channel 9 television, which carries the cricket ball-by-ball.

By invitation, I was the only other person with access to the interview.

The following is a complete transcript of that interview:

Peter Walsh (PW): Brian, the one thing about following you into a cricket ground is this: If a kid has got a pen, and he has got somewhere for you to sign your name, you will do it. Everybody loves you here in Australia and it is very good of you to take some time out of your busy schedule this morning to speak to us. Thank you and welcome.

Brian Lara (BL): Thanks very much.

(PW): What has it been like? The tour, it is getting towards the finish, how tough has the cricket been for you?

(BL): It has been very tough, very disappointing too. You know, so far, we haven't beaten Australia yet. I must say that it has been very disappointing, both as a team member and personally, not getting what I expected. There is still some time to salvage something out of this tour, and at least, it can always be used as a learning experience, despite how bad the situation is.

We have got to pick ourselves out of it. We have got cricket, endless cricket and we have got a lot of young players here who would be playing for years to come. Hopefully, this tour is going to mean a lot to them in the future. We have got South Africa in a month or so. That is going to be another tough assignment, against another of the top teams of the world. So, it has been a tough tour.

Australia has always provided great cricket for us. We have been great competitors here, but this time around, we were not able to do that. But, as I have said before, we are going to come back here in four year's time, show that we have learned a lot from the experiences, and expect not to be performing in the same way as we did this time.

(PW): Does it take its toll? You said it; "Cricket, Cricket, Cricket", and you, every time we see you walk out to bat, we expect something special is going to happen. How have you been able to cope with it?

(BL): Well, something always happens. Either they get me out early, or I get some runs. You know, it is a lot of cricket, but this is what you want, this is exactly what you want to do in international cricket; play cricket, travel the world, and then enjoy myself. You know that sometimes injuries will pop in, but look at any other sport. They all have their hectic periods. Look at soccer in England, they play for 10, 11 months of the year, and every other sport is very hectic.

It is something that the public likes, since it is a great spectator sport, and I suppose that we have got to be able to facilitate the itineraries that we have been given and put into. If injuries do step in, there will be time for recuperation. But, it is tough. Not only physically, but mentally. We have got to be able to learn to cope with this as sportsmen, make sure that we do the right things to ensure that we have longevity in our careers.

(PW): Is it a lot to do with how you feel? Are you happy with what is going on in your life? When you get to the crease, and when you are getting runs, are you still enjoying the game as much?

(BL): Yeah, I am still enjoying the game, more now that two years ago when I was captain. There is less pressure and I am able to take each day at a time, able to handle failures much better than I did in the past. It is not the ideal situation to be not performing, but I think, personally and mentally, inside, I am definitely a much better person and much better equipped to deal with what is happening.

(PW): It is easy in the press box when we sit and analyse, and when you get out there and seem a bit scratchy at the start of an innings, but once you get to 20 or 30, we can sit back, rub our hands together and say "this is going to be worth watching!". Do you think that you are getting out of the blocks now as well as you were, say, three or four years ago, at the start of an innings?

(BL): Well, at the start of any of my innings, I have always been very circumspect. I think, things have been a bit touch and go with me, but if I do get set, as you say, things go on. You can tell from my stats that I have a lot of low scores, but when I do get set, I go on to get a lot of big ones too.

You know, it is something that I would like to change. I would like to be a lot more consistent. I would like to be a (Sachin) Tendulkar, or someone like that, someone who could go out in the middle and keep scoring; if he doesn't get a hundred, he gets at least 30 or 40, and scores like that. You know, it would be great to be that sort of individual.

But, looking at it, I am also happy to be the player that I am. The big scores that I get, scoring 500 runs in one innings, or 375 runs in another innings, is something special too. I have got to be able to take the good with the bad. I am quite happy with the way things are for me batting-wise. But, as a top-flight player, you want to be considered not only as someone who could spoon out great performances, but someone who has been consistent over the years.

I have not been able to measure up to that yet, but hopefully, in the latter part of my career, I will be able to do that.

(PW): There is a bit of fresh blood in your team. If you look around the troops now, a lot of youngsters coming through. Healthy signs?

(BL): Very healthy! My only concern, though, is that, yes, there are a lot of young players, and they are showing a lot of ability. But, as I have experienced over the years, ability is not the only thing that is necessary in this arena, at this level of the game, especially if you want to keep a high standard.

You also need to be rock solid, mentally. You need to be a Steve Waugh-type of player. He is not the greatest-looking batsman in the world, but he is rock solid mentally, and you know, you can never get him out. You stand there and you wonder "why", sometimes. We need some of that in our team.

Yes, we need natural ability and natural flair, but we also need to see that hunger and that determination coming from inside, coming from the core of the person, to be able to perform well at this the highest standard. That is my major concern at this present time.

Yes, the ability is there, but are the desire and the determination there? I am not sure.

(PW): How can you help, being one of the senior players, to turn that around?

(BL): Well, I have got to play my part. I am here, day in, day out with them, and I make certain contributions. But, this is one of the team games that has a lot of individuality in it. You go out there and a guy is out there, 19 or 20 years old, under pressure, he has got to be able to think himself out of those situations, be able to have that sort of determination in him, to make sure that he succeeds.

My contribution, definitely, would be trying to lead the way with the bat, because what I have realised is that a lot of the young batsmen seem very comfortable batting with me in the middle. Maybe I need to spend a lot more time nurturing their innings for them, the Samuels and the Sarwans and these guys, and see if that can help them mature much faster.

(PW): How long do you want to keep playing, Brian?

(BL): As long as possible. You know that I have got a couple of injuries here and there, but I have played cricket as long as I have known myself. It would not be an easy thing to give up the game. I have had a couple of sabbaticals away from the game, but no real feeling of giving it up entirely. I am not really thinking of that at present.

I am only 31 years old. There are a few personal records that are coming up as I get older and I would like to achieve those things. Most importantly, though, I would hate to leave West Indies cricket in the state that it is in at present.

I think that we have a lot of future, and I would like to be a part of that rebuilding stage. I came into the team when there was ongoing success; we had three or four years of success before we lost against Australia in 1995, and then I have experienced this sort of decline in our cricket. Now, I would like to see that end and I would like to see us climb back to the top.

I would not like to be away when that happens, so hopefully, that would happen sooner than later, and I would be able to enjoy the remainder of my career. To say if I know when I am going to retire, no, I do not know.

(PW): Is there ever a thought that you want to walk away and get some space. Everywhere you go, we want a chunk of you; the media do, the supporters do, when you go back to the West Indies everyone is going to want to talk to you. You ever feel like saying: "look, leave me alone for a while, give me some space so that I can relax, unwind, and just be away from it"?

(BL): That's going to be the perfect world. That is not how it is. Everybody always wants a part of you. You become public property. Unfortunately, as a sports person, especially if you are high profile, you will have to experience that. It is hard to deal with it.

Of course, I would like to get back to Trinidad. I am not from London, or America, or Sydney, where the spotlight is on you from a very early age. I am from Trinidad, a very laid back island, and you know that you want to get away, and do what you are accustomed to doing with your friends, and you find yourself unable to do that sometimes.

These things hurt, but I suppose that this is the price you have to pay if you are going to be playing at this level and people expect certain things from you. You just gotta pay that price.

(PW): But do you like being in Australia? We love having you here.

(BL): I love Australia. Australia has been very good to me. I think, turning out and watching the crowd, enjoying their cricket, it is a larger version of the Caribbean. The people in the Caribbean come out and enjoy themselves too. In Australia, perhaps six or seven times the amount of people come out, but they seem to have the same amount of fun as us Caribbean people do back in the West Indies.

(PW): You are going to walk out here and bat, and people are going to cheer you on. You are a normal person. Do you still get that surge, that special feeling? Right, you are in a different country, but the crowds here want you to do well, even though you are playing against Australia. They want to see Brian Lara score runs.

(BL): Yes, it is a great feeling. It is something that you have to earn. It is not anything that just comes like that. You have got to be able to impress these people over the years and it is nice to know that the sort of reception that I get going out to bat, good or bad scores, the reception is still great. It is nice to know that people do appreciate opponents, the opposition's players.

I think that it is good for cricket, good for sport, to know that when you get to a country, it is not the whole population against you. We know that the majority of Australians want Australia to win, that is a fact, but, they love to see good cricket and it is nice to know that I have left a very good image in Australia.

(PW): There is no doubt about that. We appreciate your time, Brian Lara, for joining us today.

(BL): Than you very much

It is obvious from this interview that Brian Lara has matured immensely over the last two years or so. From this, one has to also agree that he seems recommitted to the cause of cricket, batsmanship, and helping the emerging talents of the West Indies.

One only hopes that some of these sentiments could rub off on some of the players who have that tremendous honour of being chosen to represent the more than seven million people of the English-speaking Caribbean at cricket. The future of West Indies cricket could be making a positive turn, very soon.

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