Lara dedicates Hall of Fame honour to late father, siblings

"This person you see today before you accepting this Hall of Fame honour is someone he (Bunty) moulded. He ensured that I had everything I needed to succeed as a cricketer and in life, even in trying times," said Lara of his father, who died before his son played a Test.

"He made a special effort to make sure everything was there. I had to work hard ... But I knew I had strong support. My biggest pain was that he did not see me play a Test match, but having the West Indies team in Trinidad at his funeral was a special tribute to the man who made sure I was given the tools to play this glorious game and make such a lasting contribution," said Lara while accepting the award last evening during the function at the Water's Edge Resort.

 

The 43-year-old Lara is a living legend in international cricket with 11,953 runs from 131 Tests and another 10,405 from 299 one-dayers.

Lara holds several records, including the one 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 (400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004). He is the only batsman to have scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century.

"Tonight, I had my brother and my sister here with me. Agnes is the one who took me to my first coaching clinic when I was six, and Winston was a role model as a stylish right-handed batsman ... So to have them here is very special," he said. (More)