A Gentleman shows his worth

[Ninjaman]

http://www.windiescricket.com/Article.asp?ID=375069

The life of one seriously ill youngster was made super special by master batsman Brian Lara during the truncated final Test match against New Zealand in Napier. Derek who is from Darwin in Australia was flown over to New Zealand by the Make A Wish Foundation especially to meet Lara...One official of the Make A Wish Foundation described Derek's bedroom as a "shrine to Brian Lara".

Lara hosted Derek for the Test match and presented him with a multitude of highly sought after items from his personal cricket kit.
'NUMBER ONE FAN'

On the first day of the Test match Lara presented Derek with a West Indies training cap and Test shirt. Both were autographed and Lara also wrote "I have now become your number one fan" on the shirt to let Derek know that he was inspired by his story of having to live with such a challenging ailment.

At the end of the Test match Lara presented Derek with one of his prized MRF bats, a pair of pads and a pair of batting gloves, all which he used in the game and all autographed especially for the youngster

Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Not the first time and definitely not the last.

[Rachael]

Lara has long struck me as admirable as an individual as well admirable for his cricket... perhaps as less overtly "ambassadorial" than (say) Imran Khan (not necessarily a bad thing)... but as someone with greater depth of character than many of his sporting peers and as a fundamentally agreeable, well intentioned and thoughtful character who is ill served by much of the press and by far, FAR too many cricket followers.

[Teatime FatCat]

That's a fantastic story Ninj, really heart-warming, and a nice alternative to some of the bad press his personality has received in the past. Good on him - and good on 'Make a wish'.