THE delivery was a perfect yorker. “You have said you will continue to play Test cricket till you are 40. Does that decision still hold?” asked a journalist at the post-match press conference after West Indies had convincingly beaten Bangladesh. Brian Lara, the master, dispatched it over long off with ease, “I will not take any more questions after this...I want everybody to know that on Saturday I’ll be playing my last international match. I’ve already spoken to the board and the players about this.”

Stunned journalists took a few seconds to react. Some thrust autograph books in front of cricket’s biggest legend of our generation as if this was the last occasion he would ever sign them. Others, still dazed, looked at each other with blank smiles. He obliged each of the autograph seekers with patience before walking out of the side door to the privacy of the dressing room. With one sentence, lasting no more than three seconds, a routine press conference had become the defining moment of Cricket World Cup 2007. It signalled the end of an era in international cricket.

In hindsight, there were enough indications that something was coming. Going strictly by the book, Lara should have come to the press briefing with Ramnaresh Sarwan in tow. Interestingly, they did enter together. But Lara went out and Imran Khan, the West Indies media manager, started the proceedings with Sarwan in the box seat. Sarwan, almost certain to lead West Indies in England next month, was all smiles every time a captaincy related question was asked. To his credit, however, he did not drop his guard.

... contd.