Caribbean joy..

In most sports and perhaps more so in cricket, rarely does one encounter a statement regarding which there is consensus among a vast majority. Few people, if any, will object to me stating that the cricketers from the West Indies have been the greatest entertainers and that without them, the game would have been far poorer. Perhaps only Brazilian football with its glittering array of gifted players including Garrincha, the incomparable Pele, Zico and the phenomenal Ronaldo can aspire to try and compare with the extraordinary sequence of naturally gifted Caribbean entertainers.

As was the case in most colonized countries, the British introduced cricket to the Caribbean. The miserable treatment and racist discrimination prevalent then though was a major obstacle in overall development of the islands. The inhabitants of the West Indies struggled for decades and fought slavery, oppression and inhuman torture before being able to establish a unique identity of their own especially on the cricket front. The West Indies played their first test in 1928 and two exceptional players who were a cut above the rest were George Headley and Learie Constantine. While Constantine was a top class all rounder, Headley was a scintillating batsman, who not without reason, was nicknamed the 'Black Bradman'. His test average of 60.83 puts him third in the all time list behind Don Bradman and Graeme Pollock. It was still unfortunate that in those days, the locals were not allowed to lead a team.

The period after the Second World War brought to the forefront three legendary players in Frank Worrell, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott. They were nicknamed the 'Three W's'. While Walcott was a tremendously powerful opening batsman, Weekes was a classical strokemaker. Worell went on to become the country's first black captain and led them with distinction throughout. Weekes scored five centuries in a row and nearly added a sixth on the tour of India in 1948. Walcott's best series was the otherwise disastrous home series in 1955 against Australia when he made over 800 runs with five centuries. Worrell led an exceptionally talented side which included the once in a lifetime all-rounder Garfield Sobers to Australia in 1960-61. This was a watershed moment in the history of West Indian cricket. Under Worrell, who encouraged them to always play attacking but fair cricket, the team performed brilliantly and the result was a classic and extremely close series which Australia won 2-1. This series also included the legendary tied test in Brisbane and has gone down in folklore as the greatest series ever.

Sobers took over the captaincy in the 1960's and despite the team's average performances, his brilliance left spectators gasping. He was and will always be the most naturally talented cricketer ever. He could excel in virtually every aspect of the game without ever seeming to strive too hard. Rohan Kanhai, the glorious Guyanese batsman capable of producing some audacious strokeplay was also part of the team during these years.

In the 1970's and 1980's Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards led the team to the top of world cricket. A virtual assembly line of fast bowlers, undoubtedly inspired by the heroics of Wesley Hall and Charlie Griffith in the sixties, was at the heart of the Caribbean success over the two decades. Picture those years and the images of Andy Roberts, the athletic Michael Holding, Joel Garner and perhaps the best of all M Malcolm Marshall flash before the eyes..Viv Richards' swagger and destruction of the best bowling attacks is vivid in memory..In the 1990's, fast bowlers Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh along with the batting genius Brian Lara tried to restore the sagging fortunes of the West Indies..Brian Lara was without doubt, the single biggest reason for me to love the game and still is. In the times when West Indian cricket is in the doldrums and cricket itself in a phase of radical transformation with all the money coming in, it is rather pleasing to look back at those videos and read up about the amazing sequence of great entertainers from the Caribbean..Not a single player nor cricket lover can ever claim that he has not loved and relished Calypso moments..