There's so much to choose from where do you start?
Individual brilliance or team achievement?
A brief snapshot or a fully developed picture?
In the past or of the present?
I'll go for the first of these and the century Brian Lara scored in Barbados against Australia in 1999.
To score half of a chase of 300 plus off his own back, against a very strong attack - Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Stuart MacGill and Shane Warne - in such a high-pressured situation was testament to a player who, on days such as these, was close to untouchable.
That I had a fair sum of money on an Australian victory in the series was a bit of a sore point at the time, but it was difficult not to appreciate a wizard at work.
That he hit the winning runs, with a cover drive to the boundary off Gillespie, to seal the victory was somehow appropriate and the innings provided the middle part of a triumvirate of masterpieces in the series.
Lara almost single-handedly prevented a series victory for the tourists and his undefeated 153 in Bridgetown was, certainly for this spectator and among a vast scope of world-class efforts throughout his career, as good as it gets.
Alec played for Northamptonshire and Lancashire and is the cricket correspondent for the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph.
Follow Alec on Twitter @RonSwann76
Memory added on March 22, 2013
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