Beating the Field: My Own Story

by Brian Lara

On 18th April 1994 at the St John's Recreation Ground in Antigua Brian Lara scored 375 against England for the West Indies, smashing the Test record set in 1958 by Sir Garry Sobers. On 6th June, he scored an unbeaten 501 against Durham at Edgbaston, beating Hanif Mohammed's record of 499. In eight first class innings, he scored seven centuries. This is Lara's own story of his record-breaking career so far. The second youngest of a family of eleven, he reveals his philosophy which has taken him from the back streets of a small village, Santa Cruz, in Trinidad, to Test cricket success. He writes about the behind-the-scenes dramas at Warwickshire. Lara is also critical about county cricket and many of its rules, and he offers opinions on some of cricket's recent controversies.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography

273 pages, Paperback

First published May 11, 1995

About the author

The Honourable Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history. Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004. He is the only batsman to have ever scored a century, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games over the course of a senior career.

Reviews

[Shoaib · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s always fascinating to read biographies written in the distant past, and before the end of a sportsman’s career. We can see how the ideas, opinions and traits of such a player develop in a way that they didn’t see whilst playing. We can see how predictions made with great confidence differed in hindsight. But most surprisingly, there is a much more candid approach to books written in the 20th century that we don’t see nowadays.

Lara’s viewpoints seemingly contradicted one another within the book. For example, early on he spoke about the importance of the sovereignty of the umpire’s decision, and why he believed it was important to value that above technology. By the end of the 1994 season, he talks about how technology is vital to reach the correct decision at the end of the day. This is something, somewhat strangely, that I enjoy about this book. It is honest, human, and insightful. I really enjoyed the detail in which he talked about his experiences of Pakistani fans, the strains of the county season, balancing the trappings of fame with his desire to be his best self. It’s not perfectly written. There are numerous spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and contradictions as stated previously. But that is the allure of reading something 100% honest.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had the promise of being such a cracking read. But in reality? It was so disappointing. I know that there are always going to be clashes of personality, but this book read like a petulant child's whine.

"He did this / they said that / it's not fair / why am I being picked on?". Ok - maybe not like that, but you get the picture.

I admire Lara as a cricketer, and I liked the way that he gave credit where it was due - especially to his West Indies team mates - but the rest of the book? Nope. Left me stone cold - which was a shame as I was really looking forward to reading this.

Would I recommend it? Yes. As a book to avoid at all costs.

[Shivam]

good