Lara to deliver Cowdrey Lecture

West Indies cricket’s living legend Brian Lara will deliver the 2017 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at the Lord’s on September 4.

The former West Indies skipper, Brian Lara, will be the second player from the Caribbean to speak at the annual event.

West Indies cricket’s living legend Brian Lara will deliver the 2017 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at the Lord’s on September 4.

The former West Indies skipper will be the second player from the Caribbean to speak at the annual event. In 2004, Clive Llyod spoke at the annual event, which aims to evoke debates on relevant issues facing the game. Lara’s lecture will be held on the week of the England-West Indies Test at the Lord’s.

“I know from personal, and painful, experience, that Brian Lara is quite simply one of the best cricketers to have ever picked up a bat. His elegance at the crease was matched by his incredible ability to accumulate runs and punish the opposition. When he batted, he changed the landscape of the sport,” Matthew Fleming, the MCC president, said in a statement on Lord’s website.

“Now in retirement, he is demonstrating a perception and passion for the game which suggests he will continue to help shape the game into the future,” the statement quoted Fleming as saying.

In 2001, Richie Benaud delivered the inaugural address, followed by Sunil Gavaskar, Martin Crowe, Rev Desmond Tutu, Imran Khan and Kumar Sangakkara, among others.