Good to see back of genius Lara: Vaughan

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Michael Vaughan paid tribute to Brian Lara after the West Indies batting legend bowed out of cricket, describing the man who regularly tormented England with his record-breaking exploits as a “genius”.

“In some ways, it’s great to see the back of him because he’s scored a lot of runs against us and it will be nice to play against the West Indies without him because we’ll probably get them out for a few runs less,” smiled the England skipper after his team’s one-wicket World Cup win over the hosts on Saturday.

Lara, who scored a world record of 375 and then bettered it to 400 not out — both against England — retired from international cricket on Saturday after a glittering 17-year career.

“Lara is a genius. There are not many geniuses in the game and we are losing one today. The England team and all our supporters wish him well in retirement. He has had a great career,” said Vaughan whose side chased down a victory target of 301 at the Kensington Oval.

“He’s done wonders for the game of cricket worldwide, not only in the Caribbean. In the circumstances, if he had got going today we could have been chasing 350,” he added.