Why they rank here
Brian Lara was cricket's supreme record-breaker and its most thrilling big-innings player. The left-hander holds the highest individual Test score, 400 not out against England in 2004, and the highest first-class score, 501 not out for Warwickshire in 1994, the only man to reclaim the Test record after losing it. He scored 11,953 Test runs with 34 centuries, nine of them over 150, and averaged over 52 while often carrying a weak West Indies batting order. His high backlift and explosive strokeplay made even world-class attacks look ordinary; his 153 not out to beat Australia at Bridgetown in 1999 is regarded as one of the greatest match-winning innings ever played. Lara scored with a speed and audacity that set him apart from his contemporaries, and on his day no batsman was more capable of dominating a Test single-handedly.
Career profile
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