Brian Lara smashed a world record 501 on June 6, 1994 in a match that would go down in folklore as one of the greatest exhibitions of batting in cricket.
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When it comes to batting exhibitions that have redefined cricket, there are certain individuals who have contributed. Sir Don Bradman was the ultimate gold standard of batting with his consistent high scores. His average of 99.94 and his sheer volume of double and triple centuries make him the yardstick for greatness. Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity and his consistency in Tests and ODIs made him the greatest batsman in the modern era. However, there was one batsman who redefined batting by the sheer volume of high scores that he accumulated in his career.
The year 1994 would be considered the annus mirabilis of batting in the case of Brian Lara. The West Indies batsman had already dazzled the world with his strokeplay and footwork. Brian Lara was destined for greatness in cricket and 1994 would be the year. It all began in the Test series against England. The Test match in Antigua saw Brian Lara break a long-standing Test record. In that match, Lara smashed 375 and broke the previous record of the highest individual score in Test cricket.
Sir Garfield Sobers had smashed 365 against Pakistan in 1958 and for 36 years, the record stood. But, in 1994, it was broken in grand style.
The backdrop to this knock was amazing. Brian Lara was initially not part of Warwickshire’s County program. The club were looking for a replacement for Allan Donald. Incidentally, it was Manoj Prabhakar of India who was signed. But, when Prabhakar also was injured, Lara was signed for the first season. The move proved to be inspirational.
Lara made a hundred against Glamorgan in his first knock since his record. The bat that he used was only picked up the day before. “The one I used in Antigua has been signed by all the players and is now a memento,” he told the press at that time. He followed that with 106 and 120 not out against Leicester, 136 against Somerset, and 26 and 140 against Middlesex. The only hiccup was his one-day form where he had managed only 64 runs in four outings.
John Morris’ 204 and some good knocks from Anderson Cummins, David Graveney, Phil Bainbridge and Stewart Hutton helped Durham reach 556/8 declared.
Roger Twose of New Zealand smashed 51 but Lara would come on and steal the show. However, there were two strokes of luck for Lara. He was bowled off a no-ball on 12 and then was dropped by wicketkeeper Chris Scott on 18. It is believed that Scott was heard saying that, “Oh dear, looks like Lara will score a hundred.” In fact, Scott would not know it but Lara would create something greater.
Lara was frustrated by the start he got. During the tea interval, he went into the indoor nets for 15 minutes and looked to sort his game out. In between, there was a rest day and one day was lost due to rain. Warwickshire coach Bob Woolmer admitted that Lara would not get a big score as he was not moving his feet well at all.
On the final two days, there was carnage. Lara took on the bowlers, scoring 174 runs in the first session to reach lunch on 285. The left-hander had one more reprieve when he was dropped at mid-off by Cummins when on 238. He shared a partnership of 314 with Trevor Penny. The amazing thing – Penny’s score was just 44.
Lara continued to smash the bowlers and he had gone past his quadruple century at tea. At 418, he was dropped by substitute fielder Michael Brown. The crowd came to Edgbaston in anticipation of a new world record.
Durham tried employing some part timers to stall Lara’s momentum. By the end of the day, one of the part-time pacers hit him on the head with a bouncer. In the last over of the day, Lara needed three runs off two balls to break the world record score set by Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad. There was some tension in the air.
Lara cracked the next delivery through the covers for four and raised his arms aloft in triumph. His 501 had been made in seven hours and 54 minutes off 427 balls and contained 62 fours and ten sixes. Unknown to Lara, play could have continued for another half hour if both captains had agreed. But Phil Bainbridge, the Durham captain, had not realised that at the time and nor had the batsmen.
Lara ended the 1994 season with 2066 runs at 89.82 with nine hundreds. The record of 501 still remains the highest in First Class cricket, beating the previous record of 499 set by Hanif Mohammad of Pakistan. Lara’s mark of 375 would be broken in 2003 by Matthew Hayden of Australia who smashed 380 against Zimbabwe in Perth. However, Lara would reclaim the record and smash 400 against England in 2004 at the same venue where he had scored 375 earlier.
The year 1994 was truly the zenith of Lara’s brilliance. The 501 knock will forever be immortalized whenever cricket is played.
