Brian Lara was embarrassed to be a part of the dominating West Indies team

By hook or by crook, the Windian cricketers have seldom failed to hit the headlines. The big guys of cricket are no longer the world dominators now but during the era of the legends like Brain Lara, Michael Holding, and Colin Croft, Windies used to dominate world cricket. But Lara has come up with a shocking revelation. The legendary player has revealed that as a youngster, he was embarrassed with a certain behavior of his ‘the then’ icons like Holding and Croft.

Former great reveals the reason for embarrassment

Delivering a speech at the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture at the iconic Lord’s Stadium, Lara revealed what was the cause of his embarrassment as a part of the Numero Uno cricket team of the world. The 48-year old Trinidadian recalled the incidents from the past when his old teammates indulged in unsporting behaviors.

Lara recalled the 1980 series against the Kiwis, where Colin Croft shoulder-barged the umpire, Fred Goodall. In the same series, Michael Holding kicked the stumps. The former left-hander then moved on to the 1988 series against Pakistan, where the world dominators used their power to incline the umpire towards themselves, thereby defeated the Men in Green banking on poor umpiring decisions. He was also unhappy with how his teammates behaved during the 1990 series against England.

“I grew up at a time when West Indies dominated the world. For 15 years from 1980, the West Indies never lost a Test series. And just before that, Colin Croft decided he was going to take a piece out of Fred Goodall’s shoulder and ran into him during a Test Match. Michael Holding decided he was no longer a cricketer, he was a footballer and he kicked a stump. I’m sure the occurrences during that period had a big effect on cricket. As a West Indian, I was truly embarrassed. As a young cricketer who looked up to a lot of the individuals in the team, it was one of the saddest moments in the world. For me, I felt the West Indies being the best team in the world needed to play cricket in a different way,” said the owner of over 20,000 international runs, as per reports in ESPNCricinfo.

Lara doesn’t want history to repeat

Windies may not be the same team now, but Lara appealed to the dominators of the current era not to do the same what Lara’s Windian team has done. “The highest-ranked team in the world has the responsibility to ensure that the integrity of the game is upheld every single time they play. And that the spirit of cricket is with them every time they enter the field,” he concluded.