“West Indies cricket in 2014 – Rumble, young man, rumble – Believe that miracles can happen!”

Jan 19, 2014 Sports

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Colin E. H. Croft
With England’s ODI and T-20 tour in February/March, in Antigua & Barbuda and Barbados, and ICC Cricket 50-overs World Cup 2015 next year in Australia and New Zealand, anything, even, yes, miracles, can happen for aspiring young cricketers who believe in themselves.
Caribbean cricket 2014 starts in earnest with NAGICO Super 50 overs competition.  After disappointing ODI and Test tours of India and NZ recently, most West Indies team places are up for grabs.

Those players who are not yet household names, but who have been selected to their respective country’s 50-overs team, should be thinking fully like the legendary, unique boxer Muhammad Ali.
“Float like a butterfly; sting like a bee; the hands can’t hit what the eyes can’s see.  Rumble, young man, rumble”, was the overpowering call invented by Ali’s famous corner-man, Drew “Bundini” Brown!
Ali, a pup at 22 years old, only two years a professional, truly believed that he could beat Sonny Liston in 1964, even if Liston was “extremely dangerous” and “unbeatable”, and again when, in 1974, Ali defeated “Big” George Foreman, another “unbeatable,” in Zaire; both sporting miracles!
Younger cricketers must also believe that they can break through this season like none in recent past, hoping to play their parts in West Indies coming out of the doldrums, to begin to matter again world-wide.
Here is a true, hopefully inspirational story for those aspiring to play for West Indies – mine!
1976:  West Indies obliterated England 3-0 through world-class faster bowling from especially Michael Holding, Wayne Daniel, Andy Roberts, Vanburn Holder and Bernard Julien, and tremendous batting from Roy Fredericks, Gordon Greenidge, especially (Sir) Viv Richards, Alvin Kallicharran and Clive Lloyd.
Holding had debuted in Australia in 1975/6, ages 21, having played just one first class game, so impressed captain Clive Lloyd was with him.  Look at what Holding has done in his playing career!
By 1977, at 23 years old, I had played a solitary 1st Class game for Guyana v Jamaica, in 1972, with poor returns; 15-2-75-0; even though many catches were dropped.
Not even called to Guyana’s trial games in 1973 and 1974, I went, in 1975, to study navigation in Trinidad & Tobago, where I played, very well, for Paragon Sports Club, catching the eyes of late WI legend Michael “Joey” Carew, soon to be a WI selector then, who told me that I could soon be playing for West Indies.
I promised myself, and the few around me who believed, that, as 1977 dawned, I would do whatever it took to at least play for West Indies President’s XI against the touring Pakistanis that year.

This was as high as I could have hoped for, since those already-noted fast bowlers had destroyed England four months earlier, and would probably do the same too to Pakistan in the upcoming five-Test series.
1977:  My first four-day game that year, against Combined Islands at Monsterrat, Jim Allen got a century, but I also bowled so fast that many people took notice, including the one WI selector present.
I bowled relatively well too against Barbados at Kensington Oval and against Jamaica at Rose Hall, getting just nine wickets overall from my first four 1st Class games, nothing spectacular to write home about.
But my reward was as I had hoped – selection to West Indies President’s XI v Pakistan, in St. Lucia.
Another player included in that WICB President XI team was a certain Joel “Big Bird” Garner, who at 22, had made his debut for Barbados that year, impressing with his speed, superb accuracy and extra bounce.
By the time that West Indies President’s XI had beaten Pakistan, in three of the scheduled four days, Garner had taken seven wickets and I had taken ten wickets in the match; joint “Men of the Match!
More to the point, at least West Indies had, it was thought, found two aspiring international fast bowlers.
But, there could be no room for us in the Test team, as those fast bowlers who had toured England would certainly be selected for the 1st Test a week later.
Then providence, good and bad luck intervened.
Holding injured his shoulder playing Barbados, while Wayne Daniel pulled a calf muscle in the same game.
That allowed two spaces to be available for Test No. 1 v Pakistan, filled by two relatively unknowns – Garner and Croft – who had played only three and five 1st Class games respectively.
By game’s end, I had seven Test wickets, Garner six, never to lose our places again, except for very occasional injuries.
The rest is story-book stuff, Holding returning to join Roberts, Garner and myself, and the occasional addition of very young Malcom Marshall.
Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner played only twelve Tests as a four-pronged fast bowling combination, but in those games, with 240 wickets available, we took more than 200 of them, hurting many batsmen along the way, making the legend of “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse!”
That, like Muhammad Ali’s attitude, took unknown youth, bravado and even miracles!
So, be inspired and rumble, young cricketers, rumble!  Enjoy!

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