But
in the first innings at the Gabba, it showed clearly that he had
been wronged on two counts -- Lara got a thick inside edge and the
ball was missing leg.
West Indies officials were reluctant to comment on Lara’s
luck with the umpires and can be heavily fined for criticising match
officials.
Lara has so far scored 30, 14, 13 and 45 in the two Tests, in spite
of which he has gone past another Aussie, Steve Waugh as the second
highest aggregate run-getter in Test cricket.
He still needs 214 (if his scores in the Super Test are added; or
254, adding Tests for Windies only) to top the list ahead of Border
and, with one Test to go, many feel it is a remote possibility of
getting it in Australia, on current form and luck.
The matter did not escape former Windies pacer and renowned commentator
Michael Holding who posed a half-serious trivia question to yet
another Aussie captain Bill Lawry during Channel Nine’s commentary
last week Sunday, asking how many times Lara would be given out
fairly during the West Indies’ most miserable tour of Australia.
Holding declined to elaborate on his views but the answer to his
question is probably once, when Lara was caught at gully by Matthew
Hayden during the second innings in Brisbane.
Former Test all-rounder Bernard Julien also judged the dismissals
unfair, saying he was uncertain “whether there is a conspiracy
or something”.
He said it was unfair to Lara, who was already fighting for top
form “while the team is not helping”.
Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board official and coach Roland Sampath,
when contacted by Mirror, did not comment on the decisions except
to note that Lara usually walks once out but in these instances
he has been standing around, staring or looking up in the air.
He also expressed the view that the burden of expectation was already
too much and for too long on one man; therefore, the added pressure
from Aussie fieldsmen and such umpiring decisions could amount to
an insurmountable challenge for Lara for the balance of this series.
Another top local cricket official who prefers to speak off the
record, could not comment on the decisions against Lara because:
“I don’t wake up to see West Indies play anymore. I
tend to grieve. I tend to hurt seeing them play.”
One irate cricket enthusiast Nasser Khan, promised to compile a
DVD of all the dubious outs of Lara’s career so as to “embarrass
the ICC and umpires into use of technology to override the ‘human
errors’ that Brian Lara suffers from”.
Lara himself has remained mum on the issue but Ramsaran, a former
captain of the Customs and Excise all-conquering cricket team as
well as Division One Club Joe Public Munroe Road United, hopes to
draw attention to the double world record-holder’s current
predicament.
“I call on Lara to keep his chin up. Justice must be demanded
and it will surely come,” he said, adding that Australia’s
victories, given the circumstances, are hollow. |
