MCC is staging an exhibition in the Lord’s museum called Lara: His Story. Out in the middle, the first Test, which is scheduled to start tomorrow, could be subtitled “Life after Brian” as West Indies begin a new era without one of the greatest batsmen of all time and all the baggage he carried with him.
One change has been the imposition of an 11.30pm curfew on the squad, which would have cramped Lara’s style and has not gone down well with Chris Gayle, the cool dude of Caribbean cricket, who must open the batting with more discipline than he has sometimes shown in the past.
“I wouldn’t agree with a curfew, but it’s a team rule, team policy, so you have to go along with it,” he said. “If it was in my hands I would allow the guys to be more free and do what they want to do leading up to the Test match, but there are always changes in life and in cricket as well and this is to try to keep the guys more on their toes and get the best out of them.”
Whether it brings the best out of Gayle remains to be seen, but he appeared to be ready for the challenge as rain, which had washed out their only warm-up match, against Somerset at Taunton, put paid to the first of their two practice sessions at the Nursery End and kept them indoors.
“It’s a different feeling without Brian, but there is always responsibility on my shoulders, not just as a senior player but as a top-order batsman,” Gayle said. “I would have liked more practice, but there’s nothing we can do about the rain. It puts us at a disadvantage, but we are professional cricketers and we have to support the new captain [Ramnaresh Sarwan], support each other and put our best foot forward.”
One change has been the imposition of an 11.30pm curfew on the squad, which would have cramped Lara’s style and has not gone down well with Chris Gayle, the cool dude of Caribbean cricket, who must open the batting with more discipline than he has sometimes shown in the past.
“I wouldn’t agree with a curfew, but it’s a team rule, team policy, so you have to go along with it,” he said. “If it was in my hands I would allow the guys to be more free and do what they want to do leading up to the Test match, but there are always changes in life and in cricket as well and this is to try to keep the guys more on their toes and get the best out of them.”
Whether it brings the best out of Gayle remains to be seen, but he appeared to be ready for the challenge as rain, which had washed out their only warm-up match, against Somerset at Taunton, put paid to the first of their two practice sessions at the Nursery End and kept them indoors.
“It’s a different feeling without Brian, but there is always responsibility on my shoulders, not just as a senior player but as a top-order batsman,” Gayle said. “I would have liked more practice, but there’s nothing we can do about the rain. It puts us at a disadvantage, but we are professional cricketers and we have to support the new captain [Ramnaresh Sarwan], support each other and put our best foot forward.”