It wasn't me.

beneaththepool:

Born on the 2 May 1969, in Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago, Brian Charles Lara was a hardworking disciple of the sport of cricket. A genius with the bat, Brian Lara was one of the most prolific Test players to ever take the pitch.

If there is one thing to remember about Lara it would be he scores run; in 131 Tests and 299 ODIs, Brian Lara has racked up 20,000 runs in his international career for the West Indies—11,953 of those from Test matches alone. Lara holds the record for the highest individual score in first-class cricket, with a 501 not out for Warwickshire against Durham at Edgbaston in 1994—the only quintuple hundred in first-class cricket history, as well as his infamous record for the highest individual score in a test innings after scoring 400 not out against England at Antigua in 2004.

Although the latter part of his career was not his brightest, with the struggles of the West Indies cricket team and finding himself at odds with both teammates and management, the genius finally laid down his bat one ODI short of his 300th in Barbados. No matter your opinions of Lara, he is a legend. Now, at 43, Lara is still a strong part of cricket culture; a name that will not soon be forgotten.

Happy Birthday Brian Lara—Ladies Man, family man, batsman!! Let’s all go listen to some soca and party Trini style.

Reuters, Allsport, Getty