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'I'm now going to ruin this game': Brian Lara ended the career of Australia's next big player, left Ricky Ponting fuming
Brian Lara destroyed the career of Australia's Dan Cullen after the spinner tried to chirp away at him.
Brian Charles Lara… Need we say more? 'The Princey', the star of the record-breaking 400 not out, arguably the greatest left-handed batter of all time. If anyone challenged Sachin Tendulkar throughout the 1990s and early 2000s in terms of pure batsmanship, it's Lara. The former West Indies captain was a maverick – who else can bat with shades against prime English bowlers in their conditions? Lara's swagger, panache, along with that high back lift, leading to purring drives, was a thing of beauty. Lara never got rattled; in fact, if anything, being pushed against the wall only brought the best out of him. Like every batting great, he was at his best against the strongest opponent of his time – Australia, scoring 2856 Test runs at an average of 51 and 1858 ODI runs at 39.53 average.
This is exactly why Australia, known for their vicious sledging, hardly needled Lara. However, when they did, they discovered who the real boss was. Former Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin recalled an instance when a certain player's ploy to get inside Lara's head backfired to the extent that the West Indies legend ended the Aussie bowler's career. In the mid-2000s, spinner Dan Cullen was believed to be the next big spinner in Australian cricket. Tipped highly by the late great Shane Warne, Cullen was expected to follow in his and Stuart MacGill's footsteps. Even Cricket Australia backed him to the hilt, but Cullen made one mistake… and it cost him everything.
"There are some players you do not say one word to. And Brian Lara was one such guy. We got told in a series in Malaysia. 'Do not talk to Lara. Do not get him interested in a game'. And I don’t know if you are aware of this spinner, who, years and years ago, only played a couple of games. His name is Dan Cullen. So when Lara came out to bat, I think he was half-asleep. I think he nearly even got lost when he walked to the wicket. Then I heard someone talking, and it was young Dan Cullen having a go at Lara," Haddin said during the Summer of Cricket Lunch hosted by Cricket Act.
Dan Cullen never played for Australia again
The game Haddin is speaking about is an ODI between Australia and the West Indies from a tri-series featuring India as the third team, held in Kuala Lumpur in 2006. Australia had scored 272/6 on the back of Michael Hussey's unbeaten 109, in reply to which Lara's 87 and Chris Gayle's 79 set the tone for victory.
"Lara looks back at me for a comment; I am looking at my shoes. Lara then finally looked at me and said, ‘I’m now going to ruin this game’. I thought, ‘Ok, this is going to be interesting’. Next ball, Lara charges down the wicket, gets completely beaten, and then just tucks the ball from my gloves for four. Ponting (the captain) was fuming from point. Dan Cullen said something else, and Lara ended on a hundred and something not out. Dan Cullen never played after that," added Haddin, who played 66 Tests, 126 ODIs and 34 T20Is for Australia.
As it turns out, Cullen never played for Australia again.
