Brian Lara signs for Australian Division 5 grade side

He has nearly 12,000 test runs to his name, more than 10,000 runs from 299 one-day internationals and a top score of 501 not out in first-class cricket.

But legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara is proving he still has some lead in his pencil after signing up to an Australian Division 5 grade cricket side in New South Wales' Hunter Valley.

The ICC Hall of Fame member was in the Hunter Valley over the weekend for a number of scheduled appearances and called into the Albion Hotel in the town of Wickham on Friday.

Players from the Newcastle C&S D5's side The Bennett Hotel Centurions were propping up the bar and spotted their opportunity, presenting the man nicknamed 'The Prince' with a contract to play.

"What time do we play tomorrow?" Lara, 47, asked his new teammates after signing on the dotted line.
It's fair to say this is easily the biggest signing in the local competition's history, and the players couldn't be happier to have him on board.

"He went around and shook everyone's hands and was really approachable," Centurions player Darren Wilton said. 
"If you wanted to ask him something you just walked up to him, so it just grew out of that." 
The Centurions players printed out a C&S registration form at the bar, made their pitch to Lara and handed it over. 
"He read it from top to bottom," Wilton said. 
"He's obviously signed a few contracts in his day.
"He signed it and took it in the nature that it was intended."
The players filled out the rest of the details, including Lara's eye-catching statistics and resume. 
The paperwork was submitted to the Newcastle C&S Association, complete with an email stating "this is not a hoax" and pictures of Lara signing the contract to prove its authenticity. 
"Given our team's recent good form, he may find it difficult to force his way into our top 11 players," the email addressed to the association reads. 
And on Sunday afternoon, the club's new No.3 batsman – the 86th Centurion – got the green light. 
And now, after seeing the story online, Sportsbet have pledged to do everything they can do get the West Indian master to play a lower-grade game for the club. 
"We loved this story and the cheekiness of the players to get such a legend as Brian Lara to sign on the dotted line," said Will Byrne, from sportsbet.com.au.
"But we thought why should it be just a dream? "So we're doing all we can to make it happen, watch this space."
The company is in the process of contacting Lara's Australian management. 
It's unknown if the champion batsman is still in the Hunter, or even the country, but the company didn't think that would be a problem if they made the right offer. 
Imagine being the Division 5 bowler tasked with sending down the first one to Lara...
- Newcastle Herald

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