"The Australian team was the team I enjoyed playing against the most," says the West Indian great. "It's hard to pinpoint any one player.

"Yes, I can identify [Glenn] McGrath as being my nemesis. He got me out however many times. Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Steve Waugh, Ian Healy, Adam Gilchrist … None of them let up. I think I have a lot of respect for their teamwork. I was envious to see how they operated as a team and how they demolished teams I was involved with. It would be wrong to single out any player."

Then you ask Lara, 45, about the Australian team's relentless sledging on the field, and how much he liked that, and he throws his head back and smiles.

"That was always part of it," he says. "I could allow you to speak to some of the Australians to see what they think, because it was something that spurred me on. I enjoyed it. I had a few confrontations that left the Australians thinking they should stay away. Go to [Ramnaresh] Sarwan or someone else."

In his 2001 autobiography, Warne illuminated some of the on-field disputes between Lara and the Australians, before adding: "Lara seems to have lightened up over the last couple of years".

To that, Lara says this: "I was tough from 10 to six o'clock. After six, I spent a lot of time in the Australian dressing-room. I was very tough on the field, but I've lightened up. I'm doing different things now."

One of those is serving as a sport and tourism ambassador for his two-island country of Trinidad and Tobago, and in particular the two-day carnival held in February or March every year.

"I'm very passionate about my country," says Lara of his home, which rests just off the coastline of north-eastern Venezuela. "We have a beautiful island, beautiful people, maybe the parties central of the Caribbean, although we don't have the pristine beaches like St Lucia and Barbados.

"As for carnival, that is something special. I could give you my number to a few Australians who have enjoyed it."

A few locals, too, including former English Premier League and Sydney FC star Dwight Yorke.

"Dwight is involved. We were both playing sport up until six or seven years ago. Since his retirement, he's been here every single year. He makes sure he has those dates set aside."

I tell Lara his countryman lived up to his reputation as "All Night" Dwight when he played for Sydney FC in 2005-06.

"I've been here a couple of times when Dwight was here," Lara smiles. "More importantly, he made an emphatic impression on the A-League. He's a fun-loving guy. Most of us West Indians are like that. You hear stories about Joel Garner and Clive Lloyd in the '70s. They were no different. He lived up to the West Indian image."

When it came to his sport, Lara fitted perfectly into the ruthless yet elegant stereotype set by those West Indian batsmen who came before him.

His 11,953 runs at Test level, including the world record score of 400 not out against England, only partly explains his brilliance. Or how he got it.

"I remember, with my parents and 11 siblings (Lara was the second youngest), going to the cricket ground at 4am to watch a Test match that started at 10am," he says. "Now you can walk in at any time. We were going there to watch the likes of Joel Garner and Michael Holding. As a spectator and a fan, and having these guys as role models, it was an awesome support group for me. These guys laid the foundation for me. I was able to feed off of them. I would eventually learn the game from them: Viv Richards, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge. I had a two-year apprenticeship period [but] thought I should be playing. It turned out to be the best experience for me: learning from all those great players. It was frustrating to be carrying towels for two years, but I was more prepared and eager to get in the team."

Of Richards, he adds: "I was a little nervous around him, but I just wanted to learn from him. I tried to be as close to him as I could. I was always trying to follow in his footsteps, because, as far as I was concerned, he was the best batsman in the world. As a captain, he never lost a series."

Lara is here to play in the Australian Open pro-am at The Australian Club next week.

He comes here via Adam Wilcox, an Australian pro golfer whose company runs golfs days and tours to the US Masters, where the pair met.

Lara, we're told, hits a golf ball as well as a he did a cricket ball.

"I played cricket left-handed and I play golf right-handed," he says. "I make that statement when I get to the first tee. I play off three, but that's in Trinidad."

On Sunday, Lara will be watching from the stands at the new-look SCG as Australia meets South Africa in their final one-day international.

This is the place where, in 1992-93, he scored his maiden Test century of 277.

It was an innings for the ages. He ended up naming his daughter Sydney as a result.

"She's now 18," Lara says. "She hasn't been here yet, but she is having a gap year next year so hopefully she comes then.

"You just happen to pass the Sydney Cricket Ground every time you come in from the airport, so I do think about the 277."