In the space of two months in 1994, Lara's 375 and 501 not out broke world records for the highest Test and first-class scores, but sudden fame turned him into a confused and contradictory figure. Then the guillotine would fall, sending the ball flashing to the boundary. Even his stance was thrilling - the bat raised high in the air, the weight poised on a bent front knee, the eyes low and level. No-one since Bradman has built massive scores as often and as fast as Lara in his pomp. In that year he made his Test debut, scoring 44 and 6 against Pakistan. In 1990, aged 20, Lara became Trinidad and Tobago's youngest captain, leading them to victory in the Geddes Grant Shield.
A year later he was in the West Indies Under-19 side. Aged 14, he made 745 runs at 126.16, earning him selection for the Trinidad Under-16 team. The 10th of 11 children, Brian Lara learnt his game at the Harvard Coaching Clinic, where he was enrolled at the age of six, and although at school he played for Trinidad's junior football and table tennis side, it was cricket which really drew him.
