Cricket: Men with history in their pocket: Derek Pringle looks back on a cricket season in which a batting hero became a legend and a young captain soiled his reputation

IN THEIR different ways, two determined young men had a hand in shaping the historic events for which the 1994 cricket season will be remembered.

In April, Brian Lara and Michael Atherton began the county campaign in ebullient form; Lara had just broken Sir Garfield Sobers's world Test record, while Atherton had come through England's series in the Caribbean with his batting reputation enhanced, and had also led his country to an historic victory over the West Indies in Barbados.

While Lara's stock soon rose even higher with his world record 501 against Durham, Atherton's plummeted after he had been captured by television cameras taking soil from his pocket during England's first Test against South Africa.

Modern values dictate that Atherton's misdemeanour will probably linger longer in the memory. Dark deed or not, it has been etched deep by the heavy hands of a hungry media, in contrast to the filigree threads of the run chart that mapped out Lara's masterpiece.

Both men are single-minded in the extreme. One, all flourish and flair, with Caribbean cool oozing from every pore; the other uncompromising, with a considered technique and manner. But whereas Lara went from strength to strength, Atherton, having become used to running things his own way during the winter, had to contend with Ray Illingworth. In the new chairman of selectors, he discovered a man who could match his own determination.

Perhaps this added to the pressures on Atherton's captaincy. The new chairman certainly seemed to know his own mind, immediately introducing new men, many of them Yorkshire- born, if not Yorkshire-based. It is hard enough coping with your own choices as captain, let alone those of someone else, and Atherton may have felt his power being usurped.

The summer had started well with a series victory over New Zealand. It was an undistinguished win considering the promise of Illingworth's new era and the weakness of the opposition, but a win none the less. In fact, England had dominated, apart from their usual calamity at Lord's, where they just managed to sneak a draw.

The Lord's Test against South Africa, however, was always destined to be a memorable occasion. It was South Africa's misfortune that their first Test on English soil since 1965 - which gave them a crushing victory - should coincide with Atherton's fall from grace.

Not only did his team lose, but the soil which the England captain took on to the field in his pocket turned to mud, which suddenly began to stick.

If the balance of power between Illingworth and his captain was shared when the season began, it changed dramatically once Atherton had been fined pounds 2,000 for the events at Lord's. Many believe that the chairman of selectors' prompt and harsh actions saved Atherton his job, but they also established the Yorkshireman's supremacy.

With Illingworth's backing, Atherton managed to ignore the loudest voices that were calling for his head and led England in the next Test at Headingley, where in a typical display of bloody-mindedness he scored 99, but Illingworth's preferences for Mike Gatting and Martin McCague underpinned the selection for this winter's Ashes tour.

England drew at Headingley, and came storming back at The Oval, where a magnificent piece of hostile fast bowling by Devon Malcolm destroyed South Africa with nine for 57.

Those kind of figures would have given the impression that it was a bowler's summer, were it not for the form of Lara. Early in the season, against Middlesex, he had failed to equal the first- class record of six centuries in successive innings. Somebody was bound to pay and Durham were the unlucky county scheduled to play Warwickshire next. Lara proceeded to score his unprecedented 501 against them on his way to scoring 2,000 runs in double-quick time.

This allowed Warwickshire's bowlers to exploit fully the extra time four-day matches allow and they claimed the Championship on 5 September, having won 11 of their 16 matches played by that point. Curiously, considering four-day cricket is meant to ensure that the best teams got to the top, neither the champions nor second-placed Leicestershire looked a strong prospect on paper. The only common denominators of note were that both sides played on result pitches at home and neither lost players to Test calls.

Tim Munton, who often found himself captaining the side in Dermot Reeve's absence, bowled virtually non-stop, ending the season with more than 80 wickets to his credit. It was a selfless performance from the genial seamer, who, with a typically English touch, was voted Warwickshire's Player of the Year ahead of Lara. Roger Twose also had a good year with the bat, but his quest for Test cricket - possibly with New Zealand for whom he qualifies - will mean sacrificing his burgeoning county career.

Warwickshire also dominated the limited-overs competitions. If the disciplined bowling of Munton, Gladstone Small and Neil Smith flattered to deceive in the Championship, it was suited to the limitations of one-day cricket. In July they thrashed their local rivals Worcestershire in the Benson and Hedges Cup, a result that was reversed when the two met in the NatWest Trophy final two weeks ago.

Lara and Warwickshire should take their third trophy of the season today, however, when the Sunday league reaches its climax. Lara can never have spent a busier year - either on the field or off it, where his agents were busy clinching deals that will make him cricket's richest player in a few years. But while the Trinidadian spent his time travelling from pitch to photo shoot making money, Atherton was handing it back through hefty fines.

For both these talented young men, 1994 was the year they lost their naivety. Let us hope they have the strength not to become cynical and lose their enthusiasm for the game that made them and cherishes them.