Lara credits Sir Garfield Sobers for Sri Lankan run spree

Present West Indian batting icon Brian Lara credited former great Sir Garfield Sobers for a run making spree in Sri Lanka that sees him closing in fast on the all-time record Caribbean run getters.

Lara scored his second brilliant century of the series at the Sinhalese Sports Club on Thursday to become the sixth West Indian batsman to score 7000 runs in Test cricket.

His unbeaten 178, which rescued the tourists after both openers were dismissed cheaply, also took him to 514 runs for the series after scores of 178, 40, 74 and 45 in his first four innings.

Before this series critics had written him off as a fading star, arguing that he lacked the hunger and fitness to re-capture the form that saw him break Sir Garfield Sobers record for the highest Test score.

But after six months out of the game Lara made alterations to his game during the team's pre-tour training camp in Jamaica on the advice of Sobers.

"My batting has changed over the last few weeks," Lara said. "I have working on a few things in the camp back in Jamaica. I have been trying to get my hands coming from behind the ball rather than from gully after speaking to Sir Garfield Sobers, who said I had to stop chopping across the line of the ball. You can tell when technical changes are working and this has played a very big part in my batting here."

Lara has won praise from coach and captain for the application and discipline that he has shown at the crease.

"Knowing that my technique is improving, I don't need to take chances. I am defending the ball well and I normally score runs quickly anyway, so I don't have to worry about making shots. I have become more patient."

Lara knew when he had reached the 7000 run milestone (the sixth West Indian to do so) and immediately raised his bat to the dressing room. Afterwards he revealed that he has his sights firmly set on Vivian Richards' all-time West Indian record of 8540 Test runs.

"It was very special to get past 7000 Test runs and 500 in the series," he said. "I have set my sights on scoring the most runs for the West Indies. I am still a long way off Viv Richards' record, some 1500 runs or so, but I really wanted to pass 7000 here and I achieved that with an innings to spare. It's nice to inch closer to these great, great players.

"But it doesn't end here as I want to score more. We have Test matches coming up against Pakistan, India and New Zealand and I want to maintain the form that I am in and get my average over fifty and keep it there."

West Indies ended the first day of the final Test against Sri Lanka in the driving seat on 323 for three, with Muttiah Muralitharan, who took 21 wickets in first two games, not claiming a solitary victim.

Lara revealed he is now much more comfortable against the off-spinner: "Compared to the first Test match when I swept everything, I am now actually looking at the ball coming out of his hand. I am a lot more confident against him. If you are reading him you don't need to play those cross-batted shots.

"He bowled well but I tried to take the majority of the strike against him as I seem to be reading him better than the other guys. Not attacking me was also a plus. If they (Sri Lanka) are not going to have men around my bat then I am able to smother the ball.

Lara's one regret was the dismissal of Ramnaresh Sarwan, who he ran out for 69.

"It was such a shame," he said "Looking back on it, there was not a run. I was a little too anxious to take the strike against Muralitharan. He batted so well this series. You can tell he is concentrating and working on his game. He is not on top of Muralitharan, but he is trying. He is a super player, loves the game, which is very important, and his time is definitely going to come.

In Galle the West Indies were in a similar position at the end of day one (316 for three) but collapsed on the second and eventually lost the game. This time Lara does not want to take any chances.

"We know what the pitch is like - good for batting - and that the Sri Lankans are capable of applying pressure on us later in the game, so we need to bat them out of the game. A safe total against Sri Lanka on their pitches is 600."