West Indian batting great Brian Lara has revealed on Tuesday (12 March) that he has started playing cricket with a bat made from a coconut tree branch and crafted by his brother.

While speaking to the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday, Lara also revealed how his family supported and inspirited him to grow as a cricketer.

Lara, who is regarded as one of the greatest entertainers of the world cricket, further went on to reveal that his brother “shaved a cricket bat out of a coconut branch” for him when he was just four-years-old.

The Windies great said, “We played cricket with anything we put our hands on – a hard orange, a lime, a marble – anything we could use in the backyard or the streets.”

Meanwhile, Lara also added that he was not only used to play cricket but also football and table tennis because of very seasonal weather in the Caribbean, saying: “we used to play cricket in the dry season and football in the wet season.”

He also revealed that his father was also a cricket lover who had an influence on him, adding, “He made sure that I play less of football and tennis and more of cricket.”

Lara signed off by saying, “My dad made sure he gave me everything, he sacrificed what he had to, to make sure I had what I needed to perform at the best level.”

(With ANI Inputs)