😏

It was a selfish innings and for that he lost my respect. But saying most selfist cricket innings ever is difficult to say because you need to analyze all the cricket matches in last 100 years or so.

Brian Lara had completed 300 in 404 balls. For next 100 runs he takes 178 balls.

Just think at the end of 2 days WI were 595/5 in 157 overs. They declared at 757 in 202 overs. 162 runs made in 45 overs. Their runrate dipped from 4 per over to 3 per over on 3rd day. Who does that?

Brian Lara was the captain and he had control on when to declare and he delayed it to make a personal milestone.

They gave 2 days and 45 overs to get 20 wickets. Which was a very tough task given that this pitch was aiding batsmen. You can’t blame WI bowlers for taking just 16 out of 20 wickets whereas England took 5 wickets in the same period. The WI bowlers bowled 236 overs (99 + 137) back to back. They had to endure the pain because their captain wanted a personal milestone.

Had Brian Lara declared at the end of 2nd day, I am they would have won the match and WI fans would have been proud of their team. Cricket is a team and not an event to glorify a single person.