Maco's dream lives on

I had my first encounter with Malcolm at the beginning of my first-class career in 1988 when Trinidad and Tobago were playing against Barbados.

The first delivery I faced in the match was from Malcolm and of course his reputation with the ball preceded him. I was scared; my heart was pumping and I was out caught down the leg-side first ball!

As he went past me with his hands in the air he stopped and touched me on the shoulder and said: ?Tough luck.? That was the first time I had gotten close to him.

Fortunately for me, though, two years later on my debut tour with the West Indies Malcolm was my roommate. Many a night we sat and talked about cricket and he never made me feel intimidated.

I was inquisitive to find out more about the game through a champion?s eye and he was very accommodating.

Later on, I embarked on my leadership role in West Indies cricket with the benefit of Malcolm?s full support as coach.

He made my role as easy as possible by doing his job in a very professional manner. We had immediate success against England but then we suffered the lowest point in our respective careers in South Africa.

You might think that he would have had his lowest point during his playing career but as a cricketing genius on probably our greatest team in history, success was the order of the day.

In fact, I know it hurt him not being able to physically change the course of events in South Africa. However, he was not downspirited and never gave up.

Immediately after the dust settled he put together a plan to combat the Australians. The turnaround was a surprise to all, except him. He worked hard and believed that we could do it.

With such a performance and a renewed spirit from everyone, this was the breakthrough he needed as a coach.

It was therefore sad that during the World Cup his coaching career came to a premature end, preventing him from pursuing his dream of West Indies dominating the world again.

Malcolm?s dream is therefore an inspiration to me as we strive to bring our cricket back to the top.

Malcolm Marshall gave his life to cricket in the West Indies as well as in Hampshire and Natal where he was a player and a coach.

This commitment must have deprived his family of his time. Therefore it was a joy to see young Mali running through the dressingroom to be with his dad since we recognised how precious this time must have been for a child whose dad had devoted his life to cricket.

On a personal note, outside of cricket, Malcolm and I shared a favourite pastime: golf.

I am saddened by the fact that we will no longer be able to enjoy each other?s company strolling down fairways around the world. During this time we were able to build on our already strong friendship in a very relaxed atmosphere.

On behalf of myself and the West Indies team I would like to extend sincerest condolences to Malcolm?s wife, Connie, his children Mali and Shelly and the other members of his family