However, it was going just over my head and I was able to jump up and catch it. With the next ball, Lara came down the track to try and hit me over the top. "I tried to york him to stop him from scoring.
I thought, right, this could be a long afternoon," recalls Doak. For the next one he just waited and waited before hitting it square through point to the boundary. Neil Doak bowled for Ireland before his exploits with the oval ball saw him being named in the country's 2003 Rugby World Cup squad 'You've done your best to upset everyone!' Lara's anticipated arrival had the crowd buzzing.
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The public came to see the professional players they watched on television - and to enjoy the company."Ĭhanderpaul was on 65 and Williams had reached 34 when the man from Nevis fell to a catch from Stephen Smyth off the bowling of Lisburn's Neil Doak. "Obviously, we take it much more seriously now because we are a test nation. "The relationship between Ireland and West Indies was always good," says Alan Lewis, Ireland's captain that day. While the West Indies had stars like Ian Bishop, Courtney Walsh, Ottis Gibson, Stuart Williams, Richie Richardson, Keith Arthurton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul among their number, Lara was the main attraction. BBC Sport NI journalist Padraig Coyle stumbled across the autographed cricket bats at a Belfast emporium during a post-lockdown outing 'Relationship with Windies always good' - Lewis If Lara had conjured a quintuple century against Durham, what might he do against Ireland? In spite of the threatening clouds over the skies of north Dublin, 3,200 fans flocked to the Clontarf venue to stage a party. The 'Little Master' as he was known was run-out next ball. That accolade had rested for 35 years with the great Pakistan batsman Hannif Mohammad who made 499 for Karachi against Bahawalpur.
The Trinidadian left-hander had claimed his place among cricket's elite the previous season when as a Warwickshire player he had stroked a delivery to the boundary at Edgbaston to set a world record first-class score of 501 not out. The capacity crowd came to pay homage to one of the gods of the game, Brian Lara. It was a one-day international played at Castle Avenue.