As my husband loves cricket, I bought him an unauthorised biography of the Trinidadian cricketer Brian Lara which he chose to read whilst in the country. Therefore it’s my own fault that during our trip I was constantly regaled with cricketing statistics, which included the fact that in 1990, at the age of 20, Lara became Trinidad and Tobago’s youngest-ever captain. However, probably his greatest achievement was in 1994, when he broke Sir Garfield Sobers’ record of the most runs in a test match by bringing his total to 375. As a result, he was named BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, whilst at home, he was gifted a plot of land by the Government on which to build his dream home. He chose a hill overlooking the Queen’s Park Savannah as it was near a Ministry of Agriculture facility, and the Kapok Hotel, where he used to get dropped off and picked up after school by his father. As we were staying at the Kapok, we could just see a glimpse of his house through the trees from our balcony.
On our walk to the Botanic Gardens, we passed the road leading up to the house, Knaggs Hill, which was renamed Brian Lara Drive in May 2019 in honour of his 50th birthday.
In downtown Port of Spain, we visited the central east-west strip renamed Brian Lara Promenade from Independence Square. At the end was a bronze statue of the man himself, poised on top of the world with bat in hand, which was erected in 2011. The area now features free outdoor concerts, film festivals, celebration ceremonies and craft shows.
Obviously, a visit to what claims to being the largest and most picturesque cricket grounds in the Caribbean, the Queen’s Park Oval, was a must, and around the exterior walls we found large-sized pictures of Lara and other cricketers. There was no matches being played during our stay and we thought we might sneak a peek through the gates. However, the security guard invited us in and telling us as long as we didn’t venture on the pitch, we were free to roam. Here we found the Brian Lara Pavilion End and Willie Rodriguez End, whilst other cricketers were commemorated in the Joey Carew Members Balcony, Deryck Murray Players Gallery, and Learie Constantine Stand.
As we exited, we heard the sounds of a steel band and on exploring, found the gates to the panyard of the Invaders Steel Orchestra, who were obviously practicing for the forthcoming carnival.
Finally, nearby we saw the British Consul building near George IV Park, now named after Nelson Mandela, and were told that before the erection of a new stand, the British had free views of the cricket.
There was little wonder that Lara became known as The Prince of Port of Spain.
See also:
Port of Spain – Sightseeing in Belmont
Port of Spain – Sightseeing around The Queen’s Park Savannah
Port of Spain – Sightseeing Downtown
Port of Spain – Sightseeing in Woodbrook
Port of Spain – Sightseeing After Dark
Port of Spain – Fort George
