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WHO’S SURREY NOW?

Apr 24, 2010 News

“Surrey, you’ve got the wrong number” and “Who’s Surrey Now?” were some of the adverse reactions when the Surrey Cricket Club announced that it was talking to Brian Lara about playing 20/20 cricket and performing other unspecified acts on its premises and behalf.
However, like most cricket fans throughout the world, I was not sorry for Surrey or for the game of cricket.
The reaction to Brian Lara’s return, albeit for a cricket club whose performance has made the name-pun virtually irresistible, has been overwhelmingly positive.   Those who felt that Lara retired too early point to the fact that Gilchrist, Warne, Tendulkar and Ponting are still around.  In Tendulkar’s case, he is enjoying a second spring in the IPL and recently scored the first double-century in One-Day Internationals (ODIs).
There has also been a persistent rumour that Lara, having spent most of his money on wine, women, gambling and song, spent the rest foolishly and now urgently needs, not just the pomp, but also the Surrey-money.  Even if that rumour is true (and I seriously doubt it) the return of Lara, whatever the reason, is as much a cause for celebration as for speculation.  Regardless of his faults as a Captain or as (some of his fellow West Indies players charge) as a colleague, he is the best batsman I have seen.
I believe that Lara left cricket with a point to prove.  What should have been his and the West Indies’ World Cup ended in humiliation.  His sojourn into the ICC showed that he was not ready for Twenty-Twenty cricket.  Watching his contemporaries excel in the IPL must have made Lara itch for a last hurrah.
On his visit to India at the start of this year’s IPL, he found that he remains a cricketing hero as well as a legend.  Perhaps Surrey is the start Lara needs and the English League the practice ground for reinventing himself.  He already has an invitation to play in the IPL and has said that he would consider it.
In 2006 and 2007, the critics were saying that Lara seemed to have an eyesight problem.  Whether his vision is 20/20 is something that Surrey and the IPL will have to check out themselves, mine is 2010- the Return of the Prince.  This is also the year in which the PNM Government of Trinidad goes to the electorate hoping that its much vaunted 20/20 vision is enough to make the electorate ignore its patchy past performance.
“If Lara could get a second chance, we should do the same for Manning,” one of my friends said.  “And Panday,” I chimed in.  But as I spoke, I thought of my boxing hero “Sugar” Ray Leonard.  He admitted that his retirement in 1982 created severe problems for him, including drug addiction.
He then returned and retired several times until May 1, 1997, when he suffered the first knockout of his career in a fifth-round bout against Hector Camacho.  In this context, it is easy to understand Lara’s desire.
Lance Armstrong, after his return from cancer, captured the longing, “Pain is temporary.  It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place.  If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”
On the other hand, and as WC Fields the comedian quipped, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.  Then quit.  There’s no point in being a damn fool about it.”

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