Walcott in devotion to his duty (10 May 1999)

10 May 1999

Walcott in devotion to his duty

Mark Nicholas

The last time Sir Clyde Walcott landed in a big city on the eve of a World Cup, he was a troubled man. Three years ago, and just 24 hours before the jointly hosted Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka tournament was to open in Calcutta, the cup was in chaos.

Tamils had bombed Colombo's city centre and Australia and the West Indies were refusing to play in Sri Lanka. Walcott, the chairman of the International Cricket Council, had to broker a compromise but he was not supported by Pilcom, the tournament organisers, who were driven by the immensely powerful Jagmohan Dalmiya. Pilcom accused Australia and the West Indies of a vendetta against the Third World; Walcott, having pointed out that the West Indies were part of the Third World, was deeply concerned for the safety of the players. The bad feeling spilled over into the multi-national, multi-heated press conference, where the ICC were cruelly exposed as the toothless body that the world suspected them to be. Walcott left Calcutta shocked at the bitterness and self-interest which ruled modern cricket.

Yesterday morning, looking splendidly fresh considering the knackering night flight from Barbados, Sir Clyde was able to relax a little, observe with a patrician's eye cricket's journey since that day in Calcutta and look into its future. He is no longer chairman of the ICC - that chalice, and its new title of president, has passed by a quirk, but not by chance, to Dalmiya - but he still chairs the cricket sub-committee.

"The ICC has made tremendous progress. More can be done but not until the full member nations - the nine Test-playing countries, who, after all, are the ICC - allow the executive board absolute authority. As I say, though, there is progress. The Christchurch meeting at the start of the year was particularly useful and last week, we announced the new code of conduct commission which, as its first major job, will investigate betting, bribery and match-fixing. My own view is that any cricketer found guilty should be banned for life but the restraint-of-trade laws may prohibit that. Hopefully, the commission will come up with some answers," he says.

"We also now have the power to investigate all reports of incidents or issues concerning the game if we're not satisfied with the action a country has taken. Inspectors have been appointed to ensure that all international cricket grounds, their playing areas and their general facilities, are satisfactory. We cannot afford matches such as those in Jamaica and Indore last year to be abandoned ever again. Neither can we allow the scenes which happened with the crowds in Barbados and Guyana. Clearly, we must take a lead on these. There is no question that we are 'moving in' regarding overall control of the game but it won't happen overnight."

It is easy, given the enormous amount of energy and time Walcott has devoted to administering cricket, to forget quite what a wonderful player he was. Now 73, he played first-class cricket at 16 and in 44 Test matches between 1948 and 1959. He made a Test hundred every 2.9 innings - among West Indians, only George Headley has been more consistent - and finished his career with a phenomenal average of 56.68. He said he batted better after 1952 when he stopped wicketkeeping and he does not envy Alec Stewart's list of responsibilities - "if he is to make the big scores of which he is certainly capable, he should concentrate solely on batting".

Walcott is in England for the start of the World Cup, of course, for ICC cricket committee meetings and to promote his autobiography, which is launched today. In it, a chapter is devoted to 'The Three Ws' and he talks with emotion about the relationship between himself, Sir Frank Worrell and Sir Everton Weekes, how they were born a mile apart in Barbados and became musketeers who played the game without cynicism or rancour and purely for fun.

He believes Weekes to have been the finest right-handed batsman he saw - no surprises who was the finest left-handed - and Worrell, another breath-taking cricketer, to have been a leader of unparalleled dignity and skill whose work in uniting the islands of the Caribbean is still in evidence today.

He says little about his own play, leaving that to Sir Everton in the foreword to the book: "Clyde would have been a great cricketer in any era . . . his batting was based on power and strength and he hit the ball harder than any of us . . . he was an outstanding all-round sportsman."

Walcott is sad that the cricket of today has become so complicated, so commercial and so riddled by controversy. He doesn't get much enjoyment from it - "it's too serious, too professional. Once cricket is played for a living, it loses its gloss," he says. He is concerned by excessive appealing, especially for bat-pad catches, and wonders if the modern player is "true to himself and to the game". He doubts this and suspects that the win-at-all-costs attitude is eroding the spirit of cricket. He is campaigning for the removal of controversial replays from the big screen at Test matches - "they cannot be fair to the umpires, who must make their decision immediately and with two eyes, not numerous replays".

If all this sounds like an old timer having a good old grumble, it doesn't come over as such. Walcott is scrupulously fair when he talks, intelligent and lucid in his opinions of the old game and the new, and completely at ease when dismissing awkward, more personal issues.

"We have problems in West Indian cricket that are of our own making. We relied for too long on natural ability and did nothing for the game's future when the great team of the Eighties was winning so often. We must do more now to motivate young people in the Caribbean, to encourage them into cricket which is challenged by so many other sports and recreations. We must embrace technology, let the inquisitive young minds see where they are going wrong, and employ other modern methods of team improvement. We must improve pitches in domestic cricket at first-class level and particularly at club level, which has always been the strength of the game in the West Indies."

What about the West Indies team? "Well, they lack talent so more pressure is on Brian Lara, as if there isn't enough already - press, sponsors, girls, etc! For a time, Brian lost his direction and sense of priorities but now he is learning to appreciate what leadership is about, is spending more time with his players and, of course, because he batted so fantastically himself against Australia, has begun to give them confidence. They could surprise people in the World Cup."

He fancies South Africa to win the cup but points out that it isn't always the best team who win - a reference, perhaps, to India's surprising triumph over the West Indies at Lord's in 1983. He is hugely impressed by Sachin Tendulkar, Lara and Mark Waugh of the modern batsmen, by Shane Warne, who, he says, is the best spinner he has ever seen, by Glenn McGrath and Wasim Akram - "great bowlers" - and by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. "Even now, I still love to see top-class fast bowling," admits the man who presided over much of the West Indies cricket during the glory days when fast bowling was law.

What about spin, incidentally? Haven't West Indian tactics killed the art? "I don't believe so, no more than pad play has killed it. We used four fast bowlers because they were our best bowlers. If a good enough spinner comes through, he'll be picked, I'm sure."

Which led us nicely to Muttiah Muralitharan and all that. How could Murali be called for throwing in Australia if he had previously been cleared and why do the ICC not step in? "Well, firstly, no bowler is ever 'clear' - that is the wrong word. All bowlers are reviewed on an ongoing basis, therefore the umpire in Adelaide was perfectly within his rights to call Murali if he thought his action had deteriorated since the last time he was studied on video tape.

"Murali has been studied again since Adelaide, and still there is no evidence to suggest he is transgressing the law as it stands. Incidentally, our purpose is not to throw a bowler out of the game, it is to help him. If a bowler has a problem - and Chetan Chauhan, of India, is one who has been helped by Fred Titmus at Lord's - we look for him to improve his action. The ICC does more for the game behind the scenes than people realise."

We had a lovely morning, Sir Clyde and I, nattering away, and would have nattered until nightfall given the chance. Privately, I was surprised he was still at it, still in after all these years at the cutting edge of the game's administration. "Cricket has done so much for me that I can't do enough for cricket." Which explains it all.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)