Ten years ago at the Antigua Recreation Ground, West Indies captain Brian Lara reclaimed the record for Test cricket's highest score when he made 400* out of a mammoth 751/5 declared against England. Ten years earlier, at the same venue and against the same opposition, he broke the record set in 1958 by the man widely regarded as the greatest cricketer to ever walk the earth, Sir Garfield Sobers. This was an ambition he harboured from his youth; one that earned him a rebuke, when he had the temerity to mention it, from his manager on the 1991 tour to England, Lance Gibbs. The outstandingoff-spinner, being a long-time teammate and admirer of the great man, apparently thought the gifted but irreverent upstart, who wasn't even selected for a Test that summer, was committing some kind of blasphemy by hankering after Sobers' record. Lara had the highest respect for Sir Garfield, of course; Sobers had taken great interest in his progress and was a mentor to the Trinidadian. But Lara also had confidence in his own abilities, and considered it no slight to Sobers to go after his record. It was on his mind during his exquisite 277 in Sydney. A few months later in Antigua, he made no mistake. In October 2003, Australia's Matthew Hayden smashed a weak Zimbabwe bowling attack to all parts of the Western Australia Cricket Association ground in Perth for 380 runs, thereby erasing Lara's name from the record books and writing his own. By then, the Trinidadian was in his mid-thirties and not many would have thought him still capable of summoning the stamina for the marathon it would require to go past Hayden's score. If the opportunity presented itself, however, you could be sure that the ravenous run-gatherer would take full advantage. The opportunity came when the 2004 England tour reached Antigua, Lara's happy hunting ground. He walked to the middle early enough on a first day shortened to only 52 overs to be 86* by stumps, and was in occupation until well into the second session of the third day. The left-handed batting genius had done it again. Many credited Lara's monumental achievement with restoring their floundering faith in West Indies cricket, and just as he did ten years earlier, Lara earned plaudits aplenty. But a few questions had to be asked. Did the West Indies captain sacrifice a possible victory to chase after the record? Wouldn't the hosts have had a better chance of winning the game if they had given themselves more time to dismiss the visitors twice? Did Lara really expect that the West Indies would have been able to run through the Englishmen twice on a very placid surface in just two- and-a-half days? The match ended with England 422/5 in their second innings after being dismissed for 285 in their first, still 44 runs adrift. The West Indies ran out of time a commodity they would have had more of had they managed their declaration better. On the third morning, the West Indies resumed on 595/5, Lara 313*. The 87 runs that took him to his milestone ate up a further 156 deliveries, a reasonable rate of scoring under normal circumstances, but inadequate when racing against time to set a big total on a flat pitch. Lara's scoring rate appears to indicate that his priority was regaining the record rather than giving his side the best chance of winning the Test. Now, there are some who argue that the record was more important and likely more enduring than a Test win. There may be some merit to that view, but a captain's duty has to be to seek after the best interest of his team; self-indulgence should normally have no part in the team ethos, particularly if it comes from the captain. Overcoming England should have been Lara's first consideration, especially since England had won the first three games of the four- Test series. Another view expressed at the time was that a whitewash should be avoided at all costs, and batting England completely out of the game was one sure way of doing that. It was. That point of view, however, seemed more a search for justification of the captain's action rather than a genuine team strategy. Furthermore, batting first and scoring 600 is almost-always a guarantee against defeat. In January 2012 in Sydney, captain Michael Clarke stopped Australia's first innings at 659/4 on the third day, having dismissed India for 191 on the first. Clarke declared with 329 to his name, giving Australia over two days to take 10 wickets and win the game. Had he chosen to, Clarke could well have sought after Lara's record without seriously jeopardizing Australia's chances of victory. He certainly had enough time; stumps was more than 40 overs away and that would have allowed them two full days to bowl out India. Lara's calculations were much tighter than Clarke's, yet he still chose to go after the glory of a personal accomplishment. Whereas Clarke placed the interest of his team ahead of his own, Lara elected to elevate his interest over that of his team. Undoubtedly, Lara provided great service to West Indies cricket throughout his long and storied career. One of the games best and most exciting batsmen, he was the main, sometimes only pillar of West Indies batting for many years. His decision to place personal ambition ahead of the teams cause, however, was unbecoming of someone of his stature. Great player though he was, it was not his finest hour.