AUGUSTINE LAWRENCE LOGIE (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Augustine Lawrence Logie (born 28 September 1960) is a former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer and is currently an international cricket coach. Augustine Logie played in the dominant West Indies team of the 1980 as a batsman, though he was almost equally well known as a strong fielder. He made 52 Test appearances and played in 158 One Day Internationals, scoring three international centuries.

Augustine Logie was a successful playing career with the Trinidad and Tobago cricket team ''1978 to 1992, captaining the side in 1990'' and West Indies. His 52 Test matches returned two centuries, including his career best 130 against India in April 1983.

Augustine Logie also West Indies coach between 2003 and October 2004, and as Canadian cricket team coach. After leaving the West Indies, Augustine Logie went on briefly to coach the W Connection Wanderers Cricket Club before taking over the Bermudian cricket team. Since taking over as head coach, he has led the team to qualify for the 2007 World Cup in his native West Indies ''Bermuda's first qualification in history for the event''.

Augustine Logie was awarded the Humming Bird Medal Silver in 1993 for his service to sport in Trinidad and Tobago. He was also the first cricket player to win a Man of the Match award for fielding.

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BRIAN CHARLES LARA (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Brian Charles Lara (born 2 May 1969) is a former West Indies international cricket player. He is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest cricketers of all time. He topped the Test batting rankings on several occasions and holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest individual score in first class cricket, with 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994, which is the only quintuple hundred in first class cricket history. Brian Lara also holds the record for the highest individual score in a Test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004. He is the only batsman to have ever scored a hundred, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class games over the course of a senior career. Brian Lara also shares the test record of scoring the highest number of runs in a single over in a Test match, when he scored 28 runs off an over by Robin Peterson of South Africa in 2003 ''George Bailey achieved this in 2013 against England off of the bowling of James Anderson''.

Brian Lara's match winning performance of 153 not out against Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999 has been rated by Wisden as the second best batting performance in the history of Test cricket, next only to the 270 runs scored by Sir Donald Bradman in The Ashes Test match of 1937. Muttiah Muralitharan, rated as the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, and the highest wicket taker in both Test cricket and in One Day Internationals ODIs, has hailed Brian Lara as his toughest opponent among all batsmen in the world. Brian Lara was awarded the Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World awards in 1994 and 1995 and is also one of only three cricketers to receive the prestigious BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, the other two being Sir Garfield Sobers and Shane Warne. Brian Lara was appointed honorary member of the Order of Australia on 27 November 2009. On 14 September 2012 he was inducted to the ICC's Hall of Fame at the awards ceremony held in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a 2012-13 season inductee along with Australians Glenn McGrath and former England women all rounder Enid Bakewell. In 2013, Brian Lara received Honorary Life Membership of the MCC becoming the 31st West Indies to receive the honor. Brian Lara has the dubious distinction of playing in second highest number of test matches 63 in which his team was on losing side, just behind Shivnarine Chanderpaul 68.

Personal Life:

Brian Lara is popularly nicknamed as "The Prince". Brian Lara has dated former Durham County Cricket Club receptionist and British lingerie model Lynnsey Ward. During the West Indies tour to Australia in late 2000, Brian Lara was accompanied by Ward. Brian Lara is the father of two girls one called Sydney ''born 1996'' whom he fathered with Trinidadian journalist and model Leasel Rovedas. Sydney was named as a tribute to one of Brian Lara's favourite grounds, the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Brian Lara scored his first Test century the highly acclaimed 277 in the 1992-93 season. His second daughter Tyla was also with Leasel Rovedas she was born in 2010. His father died in 1989 of a heart attack and his mother died in 2002 of cancer. In 2009.

First Class Early Career:

1987 was a breakthrough year for Brian Lara, when in the West Indies Youth Championships he scored 498 runs breaking the record of 480 by Carl Hooper set the previous year. He captained the tournament winning Trinidad and Tobago, who profited from a match winning 116 from Brian Lara.

In January 1988, Brian Lara made his first class debut for Trinidad and Tobago in the Red Stripe Cup against Leeward Islands. In his second first class match he made 92 against a Barbados attack containing Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall, two greats of West Indies teams. Later in the same year, he captained the West Indies team in Australia for the Bicentennial Youth World Cup where the West Indies reached the semi finals. Later that year, his innings of 182 as captain of the West Indies under 23 XI against the touring Indian team further elevated his reputation.

His first selection for the full West Indies team followed in due course, but unfortunately coincided with the death of his father and Brian Lara withdrew from the team. In 1989, he captained a West Indies B Team in Zimbabwe and scored 145. In 1990, at the age of 20, Brian Lara became Trinidad and Tobago's youngest ever captain, leading them that season to victory in the one day Geddes Grant Shield. 1990 that he made his belated Test debut for West Indies against Pakistan, scoring 44 and 5. He had made his ODI debut a month earlier against Pakistan, scoring 11.

Career:

In January 1993, Brian Lara scored 277 versus Australia in Sydney. This, his maiden Test century in his fifth Test, was the turning point of the series as West Indies won the final two Tests to win the series 2-1. Brian Lara went on to name his daughter Sydney after scoring 277 at SCG.

Brian Lara holds several world records for high scoring. He has the highest individual score in both first class cricket (501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham in 1994) and Test cricket ''400 not out for the West Indies against England in 2004''. Brian Lara amassed his world record 501 in 474 minutes off only 427 balls. He hit 308 in boundaries ''10 sixes and 62 fours''. His partners were Roger Twose(115 partnership 2nd wicket), Trevor Penney 314-3rd, Paul Smith 51-4th and Keith Piper ''322 unbroken 5th''. Earlier in that season Brian Lara scored six centuries in seven innings while playing for Warwickshire.

He is the only man to have reclaimed the Test record score, having scored 375 against England in 1994, a record that stood until Matthew Hayden's 380 against Zimbabwe in 2003. His 400 not out also made him the second player after Donald Bradman to score two Test triple centuries, and the second after Bill Ponsford to score two first class quadruple centuries. He has scored nine double centuries in Test cricket, second only to Bradman's twelve. In 1995 Lara in the Test match away series against England, scored 3 hundreds in Three consecutive Matches which earned him the Man of the Series award. The Test Series was eventually drawn 2-2. He also held the record for the highest total number of runs in a Test career, after overtaking Allan Border in an innings of 226 played at Adelaide Oval, Australia in November 2005. This would be later broken by Sachin Tendulkar of India on 17 October 2008 whilst playing against Australia at Mohali in the 2nd Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2008.

Brian Lara captained the West Indies from 1998 to 1999, when West Indies suffered their first whitewash at the hands of South Africa. Following this they played Australia in a four Test series which was drawn 2-2, with Brian Lara scoring 546 runs including three centuries and one double hundred. In the second Test at Kingston he scored 213 while in the third Test he scored 153* in the second innings as West Indies chased down 311 with one wicket left. He won the Man of the Match award for both matches and was also named Man of the Series.

The Wisden 100 rates Brian Lara's 153 not out against Australia in Bridgetown in 1998-99 as the second best innings ever after Donald Bradman's 270 against England in Melbourne in 1936-37.

In 2001 Brian Lara was named the Man of the Carlton Series in Australia with an average of 46.50, the highest average by a West Indian in that series, scoring two half centuries and one century, 116 against Australia. That same year Lara amassed 688 runs in the three match away Test series against Sri Lanka making three centuries, and one fifty including the double century and a century in the first and second innings of the 3rd Test Match at the Sinhalese Sports Ground, equating to 42% of the team's runs in that series. These extraordinary performances led Muttiah Muralitharan to state that Brian Lara was the most dangerous batsman he had ever bowled to.

Brian Lara was reappointed as captain against the touring Australians in 2003, and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing a return to stellar performance. Later that season, under his captaincy, West Indies won the two match Test series against Sri Lanka 1-0 with Lara making a double century in the First Test. In September 2004, West Indies won the ICC Champions Trophy in England under his captaincy.

In March 2005, Brian Lara declined selection for the West Indies team because of a dispute over his personal Cable & Wireless sponsorship deal, which clashed with the Cricket Board's main sponsor, Digicel. Six other players were involved in this dispute, including stars Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo. Brian Lara said he declined selection in a stand of solidarity, when these players were dropped because of their sponsorship deals. The issue was resolved after the first Test of the series against the touring South African team.

Brian Lara returned to the team for the second Test ''and scored a huge first innings score of 196'', but in the process lost his captaincy indefinitely to the newly appointed Shivnarine Chanderpaul. In the next Test, against the same opponents, he scored a 176 in the first innings. After a one day series against South Africa, he scored his first Test century against the visiting Pakistanis in the first Test at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados which the West Indies eventually won.

On 26 April 2006 Brian Lara was reappointed the captain of the West Indies cricket team for the third time. This followed the resignation of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who had been captain for thirteen months in which the West Indies won just one of the 14 Test matches they had competed. In May 2006, Brian Lara led the West Indies to successful One Day series victories against Zimbabwe and India. Brian Lara's team played Australia in the finals of the DLF Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy where they finished runners up in both finals. On 16 December 2006 he became the first player for the West Indies to pass 10,000 One Day International runs. along with Sachin Tendulkar one of only two players, at the time, to do so in both forms of the game. On 10 April 2007 Brian Lara confirmed his retirement from one day cricket post the 2007 Cricket World Cup. A few days later he announced that he would in fact be retiring from all international cricket after the tournament.

Brian Lara played his final international game on 21 April 2007 in a dead rubber World Cup game against England. He was run out for 18 after a mix up with Marlon Samuels, England won the game by 1 wicket. Before the end of this World Cup Glenn McGrath stated that Brian Lara is the greatest batsman that he has ever bowled to.

Retirement:

On 19 April 2007 Brian Lara announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket, indicating that the West Indies vs England match on 21 April 2007 would be his last international appearance. He was run out after a bad mixup with Marlon Samuels for 18, as England went on to win the match by one wicket. He announced before the 2007 Cricket World Cup that this would be his last appearance in One Day Internationals. After his last match, in the post game presentation interview, he asked the fans, "Did I entertain"?, to which he received a resounding cheer from the crowd, after which he went out and took his 'lap of honour' where he met and shook hands with many of the fans. Brian Lara stated this would be his last appearance in international cricket, he has also indicated his interest in retaining some involvement in the sport. On 23 July 2007 Brian Lara agreed to sign for the Indian Cricket League. He is the former captain of the Mumbai Champs. He volunteered to play for his home team Trinidad during the start of 2008 domestic season. He had not played for Trinidad for the last two years. He made his comeback a memorable one with a match winning hundred over Guyana, followed by a dismissive undefeated half century in the second innings, scored at over two runs per ball. In the third round game ''Trinidad got a bye in the second round''.

Brian Lara suffered a fractured arm against the Leeward Islands in St Maarten on 19 January, which kept him out of the ICL season. He nevertheless affirmed his commitment to returning to T20 cricket, and on 27 June 2010 appeared for the Marylebone Cricket Club match against a touring Pakistan team, scoring 37 from 32 balls. In 2013, Brian Lara became involved with the Bangladesh Premier League team Chittagong Kings as their ambassador. On the occasion of bicentennial anniversary of Lord's ground he played for the team of MCC, under the leadership of Sachin Tendulkar against the Rest of World XI in a 50 over's game.

After the Retirement:

Brian Lara has established the Pearl and Bunty Lara Foundation, which is a charitable organisation in memory of his parents that aims to address health and social care issues. He is an Ambassador for Sport of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and travels on a diplomatic passport to promote his country throughout the world. Brian Lara received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sheffield on Wednesday 10 January 2007. The ceremony took place at the Trinidad Hilton, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. On 7 September 2008 he took part in Soccer Aid 2008, and on 6 June 2010 in Soccer Aid 2010, playing for the Rest of the World vs a team of England celebrities and ex pros. Brian Lara was also a talented football player in his youth and often played with his close friends Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop and Russell Latapy while growing up together in Trinidad. Yorke, Hislop and Latapy would go on to play for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Brian Lara is also a golf player. He has participated in golfing tournaments throughout the caribbean region and has won titles. In September 2009, Brian Lara was inducted as an honorary lifetime member of the Royal St. Kitts Golf Club. Brian Lara was inducted into ICC Hall of Fame in January 2012. 

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CARL LlEWELLYN HOOPER (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Carl Llewellyn Hooper (born 15 December 1966) is a former West Indies cricket player and captain. He was a right handed batsman and off spin bowler, who came to prominence in the late 1980s in a side that included such players as Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh and represented the West Indies over a 21 year international career. His highest innings score of 233 was made during a Test series in India in 2001. He has made 5,762 runs in hisTest cricket career. Carl Hooper could be an erratic Test batsman, as his lower average of 36.46 over 102 Tests shows. In ODI play, Carl Hooper's aggressive style of batting fared better he averaged 35.34 off 227 matches. Carl Hooper represented Guyana at local first class level, and played English county 

cricket for Kent and Lancashire. In 2003, Carl Hooper became only the second player to have scored a century against all 18 county teams. Carl Hooper holds the accolade of being the first cricketer in the world to have scored 5,000 runs, taken 100 wickets, held 100 catches and received 100 caps in both ODIs and Tests, a feat only matched since by Jacques Kallis. In his autobiography, Steve Waugh writes that "quickness of feet and sweet yet brutally efficient stroke play were Hooper's trademarks." He was routinely prematurely dismissed, however, after losses in concentration. Shane Warne also thought very highly of Carl Hooper's footwork and, in 2008, named him among the top 100 cricketers of his time, citing in particular his ability to disguise his dances down the track. Warne felt that determining when a batsman was going to give the charge was one of the most important things for a spinner, and that Carl Hooper was the best at making it indeterminable. "During the 1995 series," he wrote, "this really nagged away at me, because I couldn't spot any of the usual clues even though I knew there had to be a sign that would give him away. On a number of occasions, I stopped at the point of delivery to see if he was giving anything away with his foot work. Most batsmen would be looking to get out of their ground at that point, where as Carl Hooper just stayed set. In the end, after watching him closely time after time, I managed to crack it.

Playing Style:

Carl Hooper was also a strong slip fielder, usually at second slip. He took numerous catches from the likes of Ambrose and Walsh. He is one of only three players to have scored centuries against 18 different English county sides. He was named coach for the Woodville District Cricket Club in Adelaide, South Australia for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 seasons. Carl Hooper has been appointed as batting coach of the Sagicor High Performance Centre to groom the talent pool of young West Indies batsmen. In February 2013, Carl Hooper Carl said that if fallen comrade Hansie Cronje's match fixing demise proves then anyone can succumb to the temptation. Carl Hooper has been against the idea of Indian Premier League. In October 2012,he said that IPL is one of biggest threats to cricket.

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DESMOND LEO HAYNES (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Desmond Leo Haynes (born 15 February 1956) is a West Indies cricketer and cricket coach. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1991. Leo Haynes formed a formidable partnership with Gordon Greenidge for the West Indies cricket team in Test cricket during the 1980s. Between them they managed 16 century stands, four in excess of 200. The pair made 6482 runs while batting together in partnerships, the second highest total for a batting partnership in Test cricket history. Leo Haynes favoured a more measured approach to batting. He compiled 7487 runs in 116 Test matches at an average of 42.29, his highest Test innings coming against England in 1984 with 184 off 395 balls. He is one of the few Test batsman to have been dismissed handled the ball, falling in this fashion against India on 24 November 1983. He is also one of the few players to have scored a century on an ODI debut. He first made his name on the international scene with 148 against Australia at Antigua in a One Day International against Australia and until recently Leo Haynes held a number of ODI records, including most runs and most centuries. His 148 against Australia came on his debut match in One Day 

International which still remains the highest run ever made by a batsman on debut in ODI as well as the fastest century scored by an ODI debutant. He played in the World Cup of 1979, won by the West Indies, and returned to the competition in 1983, 1987 and 1992. In the 25 World Cup matches, Leo Haynes scored 854 runs at 37.13 with three fifties and one century. As of 10 December 2013 Leo Haynes remains one of the only two players in the history of ODI cricket to have scored century on both debut and last match played, the only other being English batsman Dennis Amiss.

Leo Haynes, when facing Australia in the bitter 1990-91 series, clashed verbally with Ian Healy, Merv Hughes, Craig McDermott and David Boon, who christened him 'Dessie'. He is also noted for using delaying tactics against England during the 1989-90 Test series. Like most West Indies openers, Leo Haynes was strong against pace and, after struggling against spin early in his career, developed into a strong player of slow bowling, exemplified by his knocks of 75 and 143 against Australia on an SCG dust bowl in 1989. Leo Haynes had a successful career in English county cricket, playing 95 first class games for Middlesex, scoring 7071 runs at 49.1 with a best of 255* against Sussex. He was awarded his Middlesex cap in 1989 and played at Lords till 1994. He played 63 first class matches for Barbados from 1976/77 to 1994/95, scoring 4843 at 49.92 with a top score of 246 and 21 games for Western Province from 1994/95 to 1996/97, making 1340 runs at 40.6 with a best of 202*. In all first class cricket he made 26030 runs at 45.90 and 15651 more in 419 one day games at 42.07 with a top score of 152*. He scored 61 first class hundreds in all and won 55 man of the match awards in all forms of the game.

Career:

After his retirement from the game in 1997 Leo Haynes has served as Chairman of Selectors of the Barbados Cricket Association, President of Carlton Cricket Club, Secretary of the West Indies Players Association and is currently a Director of the West Indies Cricket Board. He is a former Government Senator and was Chairman of the National Sports Council. His main relaxation is golf. A biography Lion of Barbados was published about him.

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ROGER ANDREW HARPER (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Roger Andrew Harper (born 17 March 1963, Georgetown, Demerara, Guyana) is a former West Indies cricketer turned coach, who played both Test and ODI cricket for the West Indies. His international career lasted 13 years, from 1983 to 1996, and he was later described as a "fabulous" fielder. His Test bowling average of 28.06 is superior to that of Lance Gibbs, giving him the leading average among all West Indian spinners with at least 25 Test wickets. One of his most notable performances was against South Africa in the Quarter Finals of the 1996 Cricket World Cup when he took 4/47 to allow the West Indies to seize control 

of the match. Roger Harper was an all rounder who batted right handed and bowled off breaks with his right arm, as a player, he recorded 535 runs and 46 wickets in his 25 Tests, and he played 200 first class matches. After his playing career, he became coach, taking over the West Indies team between 2000 and 2003, and then as team manager of the West Indies youth team in 2005. However, he was approached by the Cricket Kenya in late December 2005 with an offer of taking over the Kenyan national team after interim coach Mudassar Nazar, and the appointment was made official in January 2006. Roger Harper said it "was great to be back" coaching players.

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ANDERSON CLEOPHAS CUMMINS (WEST INDIES)

Introduction:

Anderson Cleophas Cummins (born 7 May 1966 in Packers Valley, Christ Church, Barbados) is a former international cricketer who represented both the West Indies and Canada. He was a fast medium bowler,and Right hand Batting. Having made his name playing for Barbados, it was expected Anderson Cummins would make his Test match debut for the West Indies in their first ever match against South Africa at the Kensington Oval in Barbados in 1992. However, the selectors eventually opted for Kenny Benjamin instead. As Anderson Cummins was the local favourite, many fans chose to boycott the match in 

protest. Anderson Cummins eventually made his Test debut for the West Indies against Australia in 1993, but only appeared in four more Tests after that. His One Day International career was more successful and he appeared in 63 ODIs for the West Indies from 1991 to 1995 including 6 appearances in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. In English county cricket he had a two year spell as an overseas player for Durham in 1993 and 1994. Anderson Cummins stopped playing high level cricket in 1996, and later moved to Canada where he played for Cavaliers in the Toronto and District Cricket Association league. After a long absence from international cricket, Anderson Cummins, at the age of 40, was a surprise selection for the Canadian squad for an ODI tri-series against Kenya and Scotland in January 2007. He made his Canadian debut against Scotland on 18 January, claiming Fraser Watts as his first ODI victim for his new team. He was later included in the Canadian squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, and played the match against Kenya to become the second man in history ''after Kepler Wessels of Australia and South Africa'' to play World Cup cricket for two different teams. He announced his retirement after the tournament. However, Anderson Cummins remained involved with Cricket Canada as a coach for the Under 19 team in preparation for the 2012 U-19 World Cup.

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