Hope springs afresh in the West Indies

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) Appraising West Indies' cricket, even in its present depressed state, induces a sense of awe that so much talent has flowed from a scattering of small, mostly impoverished tropical islands.

The disproportionate contribution from the Caribbean islands, which host the World Cup for the first time this year, goes to the heart of West Indies' life and society.

''Cricket in the West Indies is a metaphor for cultural, political and social change,'' enthused Wes Hall, one of the greatest in the line of incomparable Caribbean fast bowlers, in an interview with Reuters. ''There is a great passion in the West Indies.'' Before and after attempts at a West Indies' federation faltered and then failed in the 1950s, cricket has been the one unifying force in the English-speaking Caribbean.

But after the glory years between 1980 and 1995 when the West Indies went undefeated in a test series, the state of the sport has approached crisis level. Which is why the 2007 World Cup is so important to both the West Indies and the wider cricketing community which needs a vibrant, successful Caribbean side.

Hall was speaking at a trade congress in London where the Caribbean regions were individually represented. The former Barbadian senator was accompanied by Garfield Sobers, knighted by Queen Elizabeth and one of the Wisden almanac's five greatest cricketers of the 20th century.

Antigua presented Viv Richards, also a knight and also one of the elite five. Jamaica fielded Courtney Walsh, the first bowler to take 500 test wickets. Unnoticed on the Guyana stand among the hubbub of visitors and television crews was Rohan Kanhai, the most electrifying batsman of his time.

TIED TEST Hall, Sobers and Kanhai were members of the 1960-1 West Indies side in Australia who helped to transform test cricket, starting with the incredible tied test in Brisbane. By the end of the tour, when a quarter of a million people poured on to the streets of Melbourne in tribute to Frank Worrell's men, it could be argued that they were respectively the best fast bowler, best all-rounder and best batsman in the world.

Kanhai was a supreme quick-footed, quick-witted improviser, specialising in a pull shot which concluded with the batsman lying flat on this back.

He, as much as anybody, demonstrated the essence of West Indies' cricket, always looking to dominate and entertain. It was fitting that in 1975, by now silver-haired with a luminous pate, Kanhai played the anchor role in West Indies' victory over Australia in the first World Cup final, linking the golden 1960s with the genesis of the team who were to take Caribbean cricket to new heights.

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