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There are plenty of homespun warnings to those who dare to rise above the common herd. 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall' is one that comes to mind and I thought I was doing my classics tutor a favour when memory coughed up something about the gods destroying those that they raise up in the first place. Sadly the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations failed to confirm this line of enquiry and I make do with a 17th century line - ``whom God would destroy He first sends mad.''

There was surely a touch of madness in the decline and fall of such sporting genii as George Best and 'Hurricane' Higgins and there was more than a hint of imbalance apparently affecting the life of Brian Lara as he spiralled downwards from the heights of record-breaking run-scoring to the lower level of barely scratching a living at the game.

Was he absolutely of sound mind to be championing a player revolt over terms and conditions within days of such an immensely important tour as the West Indians were about to begin in South Africa last winter? And was his head really in the right place when various absences from his adopted county team at crucial moments left his Warwickshire colleagues wondering about his mind-set - to use a new colloquialism I learned recently from fast-bowler Allan Donald (attitude, in my day).

So how can we account for Lara's magnificent revival in the second and third Tests against Australia? Was it simply that the gods relented and, gave him back peace of mind? Did the Australians, albeit unconsciously, ease off the pressure because they were actually saddened to see the West Indians in such complete disarray after the first encounter?

We can immediately see that he is in a very special, if not unique category, having been gifted to an extraordinary degree by the gods in the first place. If you are harsh in judging sportsmen, then it may be you feel it was simply time that the young man buckled down and accepted his responsibilities.

But the way he played, sublimely well with wonderful judgment, poise and assurance, is surely worth more than passing comment.

I saw the second half of his double hundred and marvelled at the way there was so little apparent effort, even when he was hitting the leg-spinners for six. It was masterful to the extent that no ball was immune from attack and of the great players I have seen, only Graeme Pollock and Gary Sobers come to mind by comparison. Obviously Viv Richards is in the same league but he was more brutal and took more apparent risks.

When this graceful left-hander proved that this was no one-off by repeating the process in the next Test, I was left in no doubt that I had been lucky to see greatness without qualification, to rank high against all other individual sporting achievements despite cricket being a team game.

Which brings me to the greatest of mind games - at least where a ball or balls are concerned. I keep a special category for golf and snooker because in both you are hitting a stationary object.

There is none of that natural reaction to movement as in tennis, ffotball, rugby and the various other court games. You must provide your own rhythm and timing and deciding when and how to start the swing or strike can become a nightmare.

So when a still youngish Spaniard overcomes severe health problems to win against great odds as did Jose-Maria Olazabal at Augusta National, then you can bet your life that his mind-set was perfectly balanced, or poised, or whatever mind-sets are supposed to be when in perfect working order.

Evidence that he was made of the right stuff was under my nose when he competed in an under-18 World Cup at Portmarnock, aged 15.

In wind and rain he overheard my suggestion that a more lofted club than a driver would help to get the ball airborne off the first tee playing downwind. ``You think I cannot hit driver downwind,'' he muttered competitively and proceeded to knock it on the front edge of the green, some 350 yards away.

A year later he was in the final and the deciding singles match against David Gilford, two down and five to play. Gilford finished the last five holes in under par but still lost to the precocious Ollie at the 19th.

He was a real bright spark in those days, full of fun and very much one of the boys, and I remember the same light-hearted reactions during his early Ryder Cup exploits playing with Ballesteros.

He was in more sombre mood, at least publicly, after his triumphant Masters but there was never any doubt that he had his mind-set so securely on winning that those nasty little second thoughts which assail most of us had no chance whatsoever.