West Indies cricket - Sadness, hope & celebration

"Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears...etc...etc... etc...the evil that men do live after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar." To paraphrase Mark Anthony somewhat, so let it NOT be with "Kitch."

I believe that the Lord Kitchener has indeed already defied the logic of Anthony's speech. He died after living almost three quarters of a century. If only some of the West Indian top line batsmen could survive that long at the crease these days!! This also defies that supposed fact that "only the good die young."

To date, I have heard no-one say anything but good, or very good, or excellent, about this pseudo sportsman; he followed horse racing, soccer and cricket too; a real fan. Perhaps he only did "good", as there is no bad here, only pain and sadness and celebration too at such a loss. Sports and calypso have both been deprived of a real Caribbean hero and a tremendous supporter in Aldwin "The Lord Kitchener" Roberts.

Last week, I had hoped it would not be so, as he seemed to be taking a turn for the better. Someone "up there", it seems, probably badly needs an A+ composer, especially for the steel pan, to be with other great composer "The Merchant", Winston "Spree" Simon, that master of the steel pan, and with another composer/singer extraordinaire, "The Maestro". Of course, "The Roaring Lion" would be in attendance too. What a carnival they will have in 2000!! Their music must be better than some of the crap passing as calypsos this year!!

Back down here, even India seem to be planning their own carnival. With South Africa already on their threshold, so to speak, they may not have much time, but the are trying desperately to put something in place. Actually, India too are using some innovation and intuition in their cricket, especially after the drubbing they took in Australia.

In a very recent game, India "A" played against a "senior" Indian team which consisted of players like Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly. While the seniors easily outplayed the "A" team guys, the exercise must have been good for both teams, as each player, especially those in the "A" team, could assess exactly what he needed to do to get to the higher level. Not a bad experiment at all, for all involved.

A strange phenomenon occurred while I was playing Test cricket. The West Indian fast bowlers actually challenged those great batsmen, those whose names are now synonymous with West Indian success in the 70's and 80's, to a game or two, under proper cricketing rules. The world's best batsmen bluntly refused.

I suppose that the bowlers' team would have been selected from Andy Roberts (captain), Michael Holding, Collis King, Joel Garner, Colin Croft, Wayne Daniel, Norbert Phillip, Malcolm Marshall, Derryck Parry, Sylvester Clarke, Vanburn Holder, Keith Boyce, Bernard Julien and a wicket-keeper, either David or Deryck Murray or Jeffrey Dujon. The batsmen could have put out Dessie Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Viv Richards, Alvin Kallicharran, Clive Lloyd, Larry Gomes, Fauod Bacchuss, Richard Austin, Roy Fredericks, Maurice Foster and one of the wicket-keepers, among others.

That game, had it materialized, would have been something, do you not think? Bragging rites would have been forever gotten.

The West Indies Cricket Board should do such an experiment now. The West Indies "A" team should be selected by Joel Garner and Roger Harper, the manager and the coach of the last "A" team outing, along with Robert Haynes and Clyde Butts, the coaches of Jamaica and Guyana respectively. The "senior" West Indies cricket team should then be selected by Mike Findlay, the present chairman of selectors, Joey Carew and one other. Since Joel Garner, who is also a senior team selector, would not be available for consultation here, as it would be a direct conflict of interests, Carl Powell, the Leeward Islands manager, whose team has now qualified for the Busta Cup final, should be drafted in for this special selection panel.

This game too would be something else. It certainly would separate some of the pretenders from the "real deal".

Every player selected would then be notified that this game, either a series of one day games or a full four day game, is a very serious trial match for international selection. The players must be made to understand that their very selection and continuity at international levels would depend on their performances in these game, or the four day game. I could almost guarantee that at the end of it, most of the "A" team players would probably be selected for the senior role, as so far in the regional competitions, few of their senior counterparts have any claims to any positions at all.

Curtly Ambrose, the Leeward islands and West Indies fast bowler, would probably make it back for the "older" guys, but apart from him, it looks bleak for some of those senior team incumbents. Barbados were outplayed by the Leeward Islands in their Busta Cup semi final. Adrian Griffith, Sherwin Campbell and Philo Wallace, all opening batsmen for recent West Indies cricket teams, looked more ready to sing calypsoes, as they certainly did not look like Test opening batsmen last weekend against the Leeward Islands. As Allison Hinds, the Barbados lady calypsonian suggests, "The Wining will never Stop".

Only the whimpering is left!!