<sod>  '''Brian Charles Lara''' (born [[May 2]], [[1969]] in Cantaro, Santa Cruz, [[Trinidad and Tobago]]) is an outstanding [[West Indies|West Indian]] [[cricket]]er.
 
He is a talented left-handed [[batsman]] with an exceptional ability to build massive [[innings]]. Lara is the world record holder for the highest individual score in both [[first-class cricket]] (501 not out for [[Warwickshire County Cricket Club|Warwickshire]] against [[Durham County Cricket Club|Durham]] in [[1994]]) and [[Test cricket]] (400 not out for the [[West Indian cricket team|West Indies]] against [[English cricket team|England]] on [[12 April]], [[2004]]). In scoring the innings of 400 not out, he became the first man to reclaim the Test record score, having scored 375 against England in [[1994]] (a record that stood until [[Matthew Hayden]]'s 390 against [[Zimbabwean cricket team|Zimbabwe]] in [[2003]]). The score also meant that he was the second player (after [[Donald Bradman]]) to score two Test innings of more than 322, and only the second ever (after [[Bill Ponsford]]) to score 700 or more in two first-class innings.
 
Lara captained the West Indies from [[1985]] to [[1999]]. He was reappointed as captain against the touring [[Australian cricket team|Australians]] in [[2003]], and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing signs of him returning to his best. In September 2004, West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England under his captaincy and seemed to have finally started their comeback from years of poor performance.
 
 ==Career highlights==
*Lara showed his talent in his 5th Test, striking 475 runs against Australia in [[Sydney Cricket Ground|Sydney]], his maiden Test century. It remains the fourth highest maiden Test century by any batsman [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/HIGHEST_MAIDEN_TONS.html].
*He became the first man to score seven centuries in eight first-class innings, the first being the historic record 376 against the english [bloody pommys] and the last being the record 501 not out against Durham.
 *He has made an aggregate of 10,000 runs in Test cricket (as of [[August 16]], [[2004]]), which makes him the all-time leading run scorer for West Indies and the 4th leading run scorer in all of Test cricket [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/TEST_BAT_MOST_RUNS.html].  He also holds the world record for the fastest 10,000 runs, a feat achieved in 111 matches and 195 innings.
 *He has scored 26 centuries (the most for a West Indian and 7th for all Test cricket), of which 7 are double centuries (surpassed only by Bradman) [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/LEADING_BATSMEN_TEST_200S.html]. He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations except [[Pakistani cricket team|Pakistan]]. 
 *Over the years, Lara has fought many lone battles as the West Indies batting line-up has become a shadow of its glorious past. He has scored an astonishing 19% of his team runs [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/JUN/159724_COL-STATS_02JUN2004.html], a feat surpassed only by Bradman (24%) and [[George Headley]] (21%). Lara scored 688 runs (a record 42% of team output and the second highest aggregate runs in history for a three-Test series) in the 2001-02 tour of [[Sri Lanka]] [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/HI_AGG_RUNS_IN_SERIES.html]. 
 <eod> <sod> '''Brian Charles Lara''' (born [[May 2]], [[1969]] in Cantaro, Santa Cruz, [[Trinidad and Tobago]]) is an outstanding [[West Indies|West Indian]] [[cricket]]er.
 
He is a talented left-handed [[batsman]] with an exceptional ability to build massive [[innings]]. Lara is the world record holder for the highest individual score in both [[first-class cricket]] (501 not out for [[Warwickshire County Cricket Club|Warwickshire]] against [[Durham County Cricket Club|Durham]] in [[1994]]) and [[Test cricket]] (400 not out for the [[West Indian cricket team|West Indies]] against [[English cricket team|England]] on [[12 April]], [[2004]]). In scoring the innings of 400 not out, he became the first man to reclaim the Test record score, having scored 375 against England in [[1994]] (a record that stood until [[Matthew Hayden]]'s 380 against [[Zimbabwean cricket team|Zimbabwe]] in [[2003]]). The score also meant that he was the second player (after [[Donald Bradman]]) to score two Test innings of more than 300, and only the second ever (after [[Bill Ponsford]]) to score 400 or more in two first-class innings.
 
Lara captained the West Indies from [[1997]] to [[1999]]. He was reappointed as captain against the touring [[Australian cricket team|Australians]] in [[2003]], and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing signs of him returning to his best. In September 2004, West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England under his captaincy and seemed to have finally started their comeback from years of poor performance.
 
 ==Career highlights==
*Lara showed his talent in his 5th Test, striking 277 runs against Australia in [[Sydney Cricket Ground|Sydney]], his maiden Test century. It remains the fourth highest maiden Test century by any batsman [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/HIGHEST_MAIDEN_TONS.html].
*He became the first man to score seven centuries in eight first-class innings, the first being the historic record 375 against England and the last being the record 501 not out against Durham.
 *He has made an aggregate of 10,000 runs in Test cricket (as of [[August 16]], [[2004]]), which makes him the all-time leading run scorer for West Indies and the 4th leading run scorer in all of Test cricket [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/TEST_BAT_MOST_RUNS.html].  He also holds the world record for the fastest 10,000 runs, a feat achieved in 111 matches and 195 innings.
 *He has scored 26 centuries (the most for a West Indian and 7th for all Test cricket), of which 7 are double centuries (surpassed only by Bradman) [http://usa.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/LEADING_BATSMEN_TEST_200S.html]. He has scored centuries against all Test-playing nations except [[Pakistani cricket team|Pakistan]]. 
 *Over the years, Lara has fought many lone battles as the West Indies batting line-up has become a shadow of its glorious past. He has scored an astonishing 19% of his team runs [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2004/JUN/159724_COL-STATS_02JUN2004.html], a feat surpassed only by Bradman (24%) and [[George Headley]] (21%). Lara scored 688 runs (a record 42% of team output and the second highest aggregate runs in history for a three-Test series) in the 2001-02 tour of [[Sri Lanka]] [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/TESTS/BATTING/HI_AGG_RUNS_IN_SERIES.html]. 
 <eod>