On June 3rd 1994, at 3:28 pm Brian Lara walked out to bat against Durham in the County Championship match at Edgbaston.

Warwickshire were 8/1, after the visitors scored a mammoth 556 in their first innings. Lara scored 18 before tea on that day. Roger Twose was giving him company.

After tea, he started to take the bowling apart. The 50 came in 97 mins and 80 balls. The second 50 took 47 mins and 58 balls. At the end of the day he was 111 not out. 

Milestones reached that day:

A>    7th FC century in 8 consecutive innings- unique achievement in FC cricket. Ernest Tyldesley, Vijay Merchant, Wally Hammond and Peter Kirsten scored 6 centuries in 7 innings.
B>    He became only the 4th batsman to score 7 centuries in 9 innings. The other three were C.B. Fry, Ernest Tyldesley and Don Bradman (4 times).
C>    This was also his 6th century in 7th consecutive Championship innings- another unique feat.

On 4th June there was no play due to rain.

Play resumed on Monday, 6th June. 

He reached 150 in 201 mins and 193 balls. It took him 23 mins and 27 balls to score the next 50 and reach 200.

22 mins and 25 balls for the next 50.

At lunch on that day he was on 285.

Milestones and records reached/broken in that session:

A>    When he reached 249, it became the highest FC score against Durham. The earlier record-holder was C.C. Lewis (247 in 1993).
B>    280*: Highest score by any batsman at Edgbaston. This was also the highest score for Warwickshire by a left-hander. Roger Twose had both records when he scored 277* v Glamorgan in the same year.
C>    He reached 285* when lunch was taken, thus scoring 174 runs in a session before lunch. This was a new Warwickshire record. The previous record-holder was F.R. Santall, who scored 173 before lunch in 1933.

He reached 300 in 280 mins and 278 balls. 

The next 50 was scored in 39 mins and 33 balls.

Then he reached 400 in 367 mins and 350 balls.

At tea, he was 418* and well in sight of the world record score of 499* by Hanif Mohammad. 

Milestones and records reached/broken in that session:

A>    When Lara reached 297, the 3rd wicket stand of 314 in 55 overs with Trevor Penney became the best for any wicket against Durham.
B>    When Lara reached 301*, it was the first triple-century at Edgbaston.
C>    When he added another five runs, his score became the highest individual score by a Warwickshire batsman. Frank Foster scored 305* in 1914.
D>    323*: the score was the highest by a West Indies batsman in England. Viv Richards scored 322 in 1985.
E>    325*: 1000 runs in the season. Took him 7 innings. Bradman too scored 1000 runs in 7 innings in 1938.
F>    325*- 1000 runs in season on June 7th. Faster by a Warwickshire cricketer. W.J. Stewart reached that figure on 12th June, in 1962.
G>    367*: Highest score by a left-hander in England, beating Neil Fairbrother’s 366 in 1990.
H>    376*: Highest score by a West Indian. Beats his own record.
I>     386*: Highest score by a left-hander, surpassing Bert Sutcliffe’s 385 in 1952/53.
J>    406*: highest score in England in the 20th century, beating Graeme Hick’s 405* in 1988.
K>    418*: First Warwickshire player to score more than 100 runs in two consecutive sessions of play.

He resumed batting after tea the way he was batting before it and reached 450 in 430 mins and 398 balls.

When he was on 497, a John Morris bouncer struck him on the head. Much to the relief of everyone present and following the game, it didn’t make him retire. He continued and reached the coveted milestone.

501* in 474 mins and 427 balls.

Milestones and records reached/broken in that session:

A>    423*: 272 (55 fours and 9 sixes) runs in boundaries, going past Percy Perrin’s 272 (68 fours) in 1904.
B>    425*: Highest FC score in England beating Archie MacLaren’s 424 in 1895.
C>    454*: Goes past Don Bradman’s 452*to register the second highest FC score.
D>    458*: Goes past Charlie Macartney’s record for most runs in a day. Macartney scored 345 in a day in 1921.
E>    475*: 69th boundary hit. Goes past Perrin’s record of 68 (all fours).
F>    501*: First man to score 500 runs and breaks Hanif Mohammad’s record to register the highest individual FC score of all time.

All this would not have happened if Chris Scott had hold on to the chance Lara offered when he was on 18. He added another 483 runs, thus making Scott’s miss the most expensive one in FC cricket’s history.

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