British journalist pens Lara's biography

Cambridge, May 22 (IANS/CMC) British journalist James Fuller has written a biography of former West Indies captain Brian Lara, one of the greatest cricketers of all time.

Fuller, also a keen cricketer who played at domestic level for 20 years, says he wrote 'Caribbean lives-Brian Lara' during the six years he lived in Lara's homeland of Trinidad and Tobago, reports CMC.

Lara, who retired in 2008, holds the world record scores in Test cricket (400 not out), first-class cricket (501 not out) and the most runs in a test match over (28).

"I wanted to write about Lara's career from the Caribbean perspective, as that had never been done before," said Fuller.

"Living in the Caribbean gave me the time and opportunity to access people who were close to him at every stage of his life and career: coaches, teachers."

Fuller has been a journalist for 13 years and was named the Newspaper Society's UK Young Journalist of The Year in 2002.

He now lives in Tauranga, New Zealand, where he is a senior writer at the Bay of Plenty Times.

"I also wanted to transmit that sense of vibrancy and fun which is so much a part of the Trinidadian culture; a culture which helped shape one of the greatest batsman the world has ever seen," said Fuller.

"Being a cricket fanatic of limited ability, writing a book was also the only way my name would ever be mentioned in the same breath as Brian Lara's."

'Caribbean Lives: Brian Lara', published by Macmillan, is available on Amazon from May 31.

--IANS/CMC

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