Tony Becca

ON SUNDAY evening last, Sir Allen Stanford, the man who many in the streets, in the trenches, believe should be the next president of the West Indies Cricket Board, gathered his group together at the beautiful Stanford Cricket Ground.

At the magnificent Sticky Wicket complex in St. John's, Clyde Walcott, posthumously, and Wes Hall were inducted into the Sticky Wicket West Indies Cricket Hall of Fame, and such was the gathering, it was truly a memorable affair - an autograph hunter's dream come true.

Among the guests were Lance Gibbs, Colin Croft, Gordon Greenidge, Jeffrey Dujon, Michael Holding, Seymour Nurse, Gary Sobers, Everton Weekes, Joel Garner, Ian Bishop, Andy Roberts, Courtney Walsh, Desmond Haynes, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson, Curtly Ambrose and Hall himself - 17 of the greatest batsmen, bowlers and fielders, plus one of the greatest wicketkeeper/batsmen, West Indies cricket and the world have ever seen.

It was such an impressive gathering that keynote speaker, the incomparable Tony Cozier, re-marked that if it were a football gathering, it would have been like having Pele, Maradona, Stanley Matthews, Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer and Garrincha, the Little Bird from Brazil, gathered in one place at the same time.

Reminders of Past tours

To me, 17 players in one place at the same time reminded me of cricket tours gone by, and especially with the West Indies team scheduled to leave for England a couple days after that, those 17 players reminded me of the glory days of West Indies cricket.

Those days when the West Indies boasted the best batsman, on more than one occasion, in the world, the best spin bowler in the world, the best opening pair of batsmen in the world, the best fast bowlers in the world, a few of the best fielders and the best fielding team in the world, and a wicketkeeper/batsman who, had he been so inclined, could have played on the team as a batsman, pure and simple.

As the autograph hunters flocked them, my mind went back to the days when, for six years between 1962 and 1967, the West Indies were the best in the world.

When for 19 years, between 1976 and 1995, the West Indies were the best in the world. When, for 15 years, between 1981 and 1995, the West Indies went around the world knocking off every team one by one. To me, they were the magnificent 17 - a party out of which could be selected an invincible XI.

With Greenidge and Haynes to open the innings, with Richards, Weekes, Richardson and Sobers to follow, with Dujon at number seven, with Gibbs to bowl his off-spin and Sobers anything from left-arm swing to orthodox left-arm spin to back-of-the-hand spin, and after going into the hat to make the selections, with any three from Holding, Garner, Roberts, Walsh, Ambrose and Hall, that would be an awesome team fit to take on any other team, from anywhere, including Heaven or Hell.

Reminders of WI,England

With England as the West Indies next challenge, the gathering of stars also reminded me of the brilliant and unforgettable days of 1984, 1986, and 1988 when the West Indies, away from home, at home and away from home, defeated England 5-0, 5-0, and 4-0, while winning 14 of 15 consecutive Test matches, including two shut-outs, against the mother country.

The last three times the two teams met, however, in 2000 in England, 2004 in the West Indies and 2004 in England, England won 3-1, 3-0 with one drawn and 4-0 for a 10 from 12 scoreline, including a whitewash.

The count, in England, is now 29 for the West Indies, 25 for England and the question is this: Even if they are not as good as their predecessors of 1984, 1986 and 1988, can the West Indies of 2007 break the string of England victories?

According to manager Michael Findlay, coach David Moore, captain Ramnaresh Sarwan, vice captain Daren Ganga and many of the players, including fast bowler Daren Powell and all-rounder Daren Sammy, it is possible.

And if, as Ganga has suggested, they can, as they have not done in many moons, put the team first, if they can rally around each other, if they can play together as a team and if they can represent the West Indian people with pride and with honour, it is possible. As improbable as it seems, it is not impossible - and especially so because England themselves are no great shakes.

Long odds for success

The odds of the ambassadors of 2007 emulating those of the past 45 years, however, and definitely so those of the years between 1960 and 1995, are long - and it is long, not only because England are playing at home, but also because of the performance level of the players now in England.

Although all their batsmen, but for Dwayne Bravo at age 23, are over 25 and matured, with Sarwan averaging 38.80, Christopher Gayle 38.71, Bravo 32.73, Ganga 27.29, Runako Morton 26.11, Devon Smith 25.34, and Sylvester Joseph 16.62, only Shivnarine Chanderpaul, with 44.60, parades a batting average worthy of a Test batsman - and definitely not with any from the top drawer, certainly not with Richards - 50.23, Sobers - 57.78, Weekes - 58.61, Walcott - 56.68 or Rohan Kanhai with 47.53.

On top of that, when one remembers that Ambrose, Marshall and Garner averaged, as bowlers, below 21, that Walsh, Holding, Croft and Bishop averaged below 25, that Roberts and Hall averaged just above 25, with Corey Collymore taking only 82 wickets at an average of 30.80, Jerome Taylor 31 at 33.19, Powell 47 at 42.68 and Fidel Edwards 63 at 44.30, the West Indies bowling is no better than their batting, and apart from some short days at the wicket, that could mean some long days in the sun.