Shukri Conrad reveals fear behind Wiaan Mulder's decision to declare before he could break Brian Lara's Test record

Shukri Conrad reveals fear behind Wiaan Mulder's decision to declare before he could break Brian Lara's Test record originally appeared on Cricket News . Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . KEY TAKEAWAYS: Shukri Conrad says he advised Wiaan Mulder to declare before he could score 400 in the South Africa vs Zimbabwe Test match. If Mulder had gone past 400, the Proteas all-rounder would have broken Brian Lara's long-standing record. The coach asked Mulder directly whether he could live with walking out as a record holder every innings. Mulder declared 367 not out against Zimbabwe in July 2025, 33 short of Lara's 400. South Africa declared before Wiaan Mulder could break Brian Lara's 400* record When Wiaan Mulder declared the Proteas innings on July 7, 2025, at Bulawayo, the cricket world was stunned. Coming in as the stand-in skipper for the injured Temba Bavuma, Mulder batted through four sessions and was just 33 runs shy of Brian Lara's record at Lunch on Day 2. More than three and a half days of play remained, and at 367*, the substitute-skipper had already broken Hashim Amla's record of 311* and was holding the fifth-highest score in Test cricket. Instead, he decided to declare the innings at 626/5. South Africa ended up winning that match comfortably by an innings and 236 runs within three days after dismissing Zimbabwe for 170 and 220 in the follow-on. Lara's record of the only 400 in Test cricket was safe, and everyone believed it was simply a matter of Mulder showing respect to the West Indies legend's unbroken record. Now, more than 16 months after that game, Shukri Conrad, speaking on The Super Over Podcast , has described a conversation at the lunch interval in Bulawayo that was about something else entirely. MORE: Much ado about Harmer: Henriques vindicated, Aussies eat their words What did Shukri Conrad have to say about Mulder's decision? "So when we walked out at lunch, I walked straight to him and said, 'Wiaan, what are you going to do?' And we discussed it, and he said, 'What do you think?' Conrad said. "Now I know Wiaan. I know what kind of person he is, and I know what weighs him down and what encourages him." The coach's read was that a man who deflects attention would struggle to carry the biggest individual record in the game. "He's a character of one of the team and not taking the spotlight away from them. And that's why I suggested to him, 'I think you should pull out before you get there because I don't know if you would be able to live with it.'" The question Conrad put to him was about every inning that would follow, not that one. "The next time you walk out, every time you walk out, you will walk out as a world record holder. Can you live with that tag? Will you be able to deal with it, knowing the person you are?" Both men concluded he could not. "We both agreed he probably wouldn't have," Conrad said, adding that he is not claiming certainty about the call. "I think if he had gone for it, who knows? We will never know if it's the right or wrong decision. People will say records are meant to be broken." He also rejected the idea that the opposition made the score cheap, while acknowledging the point exists. "It so happened to be Zimbabwe, but I don't want to make light of that either, but it's Test cricket." He didn't want claims of a weak opponent in the Chevrons to muddle Mulder's efforts. MORE: 'Different fire in the belly': Allan Donald reveals Australia as opponents brings the best out of Kagiso Rabada His closing justification was a coaching principle rather than a cricketing one. "All I care about is the well-being of my players. And I thought that was the best decision in Wiaan Mulder's interest not only at the time but also in his time in the game." Mulder's batting since has answered the question Conrad was asking The premise of Conrad's advice was that Mulder could not perform with a world record attached to his name. There is no way to test that, but there is a way to see how he has handled things since then. He has been asked about it in nearly every interview since, including by Lara himself, who wanted him to break the record. That is not the obscurity Conrad was protecting, but it has allowed him to continue scoring. Mulder made 115 at Newlands last week in the Test that won South Africa the series against Australia, coming in at 143 for 3 in a match that decided the rubber. Conrad is right that nobody will ever know whether the declaration was correct. What the past 16 months suggest is that the thing he feared, Mulder being defined by a number rather than by his cricket, has happened anyway. For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook , Instagram , and X (Twitter) pages.