IN sport, as in life, the wisest piece of advice is listen to the voice of experience, to those who have been there, done that.
For a cricketer who has gone where no man has ever gone Brian Lara's options are somewhat limited.
Yet, at the age for 32 and with a declining record of performance in the years following his incredible 375 in the Antigua Test and 501 not in an English county championship match in six heady weeks in 1994, Lara knew whose counsel to heed prior to the current tour of Sri Lanka.
Sir Gary Sobers, the greatest player the game has known, a fellow left-hander, a West Indian compatriot, kindred spirit and perceptive judge, passed on the technical hint that Lara has credited with aiding his sudden resurgence.
"I've tried to get my hands coming from behind the ball, rather than from gully, after speaking to Sir Gary who said I had to stop chopping across the line of the ball," he said after his 221 in the West Indies' first innings of the third Test here. "You can tell when technical changes are working and this has played a very big part in my batting here."
Lara said he made a few small but important alterations over the last few weeks.
"I have worked on a few things in the (pre-tour) team camp back in Jamaica," he explained. "They're working here and, with my technique improving, I don't need to take chances."
"I'm defending the ball well and I normally score runs quickly anyway, so I don't have to worry about making shots," he told reporters with his tally in the series up to 558. "I've become more patient."
Lara said it was "very special" to go past 7,000 runs in Tests on the first day here, the sixth West Indian to do so, and 500 in the series, only the third West Indian after Seymour Nurse Jimmy Adams to achieve the landmark in a three-Test series.
But he made it known they are other objectives to meet.
"Before the series, I wanted to get my average back up above 50 because it had fallen to 47," he said. "My aim is get it back up among the big boys."
"I've also set my sights on scoring the most runs for the West Indies," he added. "I know I'm still a long way off Viv Richards' record, some 1,500 runs or so, but I really wanted to pass 7,000 here and I've got there with an innings to spare."
After his 221, his fourth double century in his 85 Tests, Lara now has 7,091. Only Richards (8,540), Sobers (8,032), Gordon Greenidge (7,558), Clive Lloyd (7,515) and Desmond Haynes (7,487) have more.
"It's nice to inch closer to these great, great players but it doesn't end here as I want to score more," he said. "We have Test matches coming up against Pakistan, India and New Zealand and I want to maintain the form I'm in and get my average over 50 and keep it there."
Even Lara was bothered early in the series by Muttiah Muralitheran, the mysterious off-spinner who had 21 wickets in the first two Tests. But Lara clearly had his measure in Colombo when Muralitheran's only wicket was No.9 Dinanath Ramnarine.
"Compared to the first Test when I swept everything, I'm now actually looking at the ball coming out of his hand and I'm a lot more confident against him," he said.
"If you're reading Murali you don't need to play those cross-batted shots," he added.
Lara said he tried to take as much of Muralitheran as possible as he reckoned he was reading him better than the rest of the batsmen.
"Not attacking me was also a plus," he noted. "If they're not going to have men around my bat then I'm able to smother the ball."
Lara acknowledged that his anxiety to take on Muralitheran inadvertently led to the crucial run out of Ramnaresh Sarwan for 69.
"That was such a shame," he said. "Looking back on it, there wasn't a run in it but I was a little too anxious to take the strike against Muralitharan.
"Sarwan's batting so well this series," Lara observed. "He's concentrating and working on his game. He's not on top of Muralitharan but he's trying."
Lara described the 21-year-old from Guyana as "a super player who loves the game".
"That's very important and his time is definitely going to come," he added.