Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
ONE OF the most interesting pastimes among West Indian cricket fans is the selection of all-time teams. In fact, despite the presence of so many great ones and the many different eras in which they played, in spite of the difficulty, the futility of the exercise, the only thing more interesting than that is the selection of the greatest players of all time.
Starting with the legendary George Headley, the West Indies have paraded some truly great players through to the mercurial Brian Lara, for the past few weeks, each territory, through its fans and thanks to Scotiabank, has been selecting its best to mark the 75th anniversary, the Jubilee, of the West Indies in Test cricket, at the end of it all, a jury, thanks to Wisden, will be selecting the best of the West Indies, and what an exercise it has been and promises to be.
So far, Barbados, the pride of West Indies cricket with the most representatives, have selected their top seven, Guyana their top five, Trinidad and Tobago their top five, and the Combined Islands their top four.
In a few days time, Jamaica will be announcing their top five, and based on the selections in Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the Combined Islands, although the consensus appears to favour George Headley, Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Lawrence Rowe and Alfred Valentine, it will be interesting to see who will be named, who will be elected the five greatest Jamaica cricketers of all time.
In Trinidad and Tobago, the top five elected, in order according to the votes, were Lara, Larry Gomes, Learie Constantine, Ian Bishop and Sonny Ramadhin.
In Guyana, the top five were, again in order and according to the votes, Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Carl Hooper, Lance Gibbs and Shivnarine Chander-paul; in the Islands, the top four, again in order, were Viv Richards, Curtly Ambrose, Andy Roberts and Richie Richardson.
In Barbados, the seven, what they call the magnificent seven, were, in order, Garfield Sobers, Malcolm Marshall, Frank Wor-rell, Gordon Greenidge, Everton Weekes, Joel Garner and Desmond Haynes.
The reason why the announcement of Jamaica's five is being awaited with bated breath is not because of those who got in among the best of the other territories, but because of those who did not.
To their everlasting credit, the fans of Trinidad and Tobago remembered Constantine one of their stalwarts and one of the stars of West Indies cricket from far as far back as 1928, and no one can or should even argue with their top five.
GOMES
It seems strange, however, that Gomes was second in the voting and that Gomes and Bishop were ahead of Ramadhin the wizard of spin who, along with Valentine, was the architect of the West Indies victory over England in 1950, who took seven for 49 against England in 1957.
He also bowled the most overs (98) in a Test innings while conceding less than two runs an over, who bowled the most overs (129) in a Test match while taking nine wickets and conceding less than two runs an over.
During his time, he was an integral part of the West Indies team, was one of the two or three most feared bowlers of his time and who, with Valentine, formed one of the most dangerous pair of bowlers off all time, and who is still a household name 54 years after he first wore the West Indies cap.
While there was no one in Guyana from the early days to remember, it was also strange to see Chanderpaul in ahead of Alvin Kallicharran, Roy Fredericks and Colin Croft - just as it was to see Hooper ahead of Gibbs in the order.
As talented as Hooper was, as elegant as he is, he certainly cannot be numbered among great batsmen. Gibbs, however, is numbered among the few bowlers in the world with a hat-trick to his name, when he retired he held the world record for the number wickets taken, he was the best spin bowler of his time and one of the best of all time.
While there is no one to compare with Richards, Ambrose, Roberts and Richardson from the Combined Islands, it is also strange, not only that Greenidge polled more votes than Weekes in Barbados, but also that Garner and Haynes were in and Wes Hall and Clyde Walcott were out.
A look at the statistics shows that while Hall took 192 wickets in 48 matches at an average of 26.38 with five wickets in an innings nine times and 10 in a match once, Garner took 259 in 58 at 20.97 with five wickets in an innings seven times, that while Walcott scored 3,798 runs with 15 centuries at an average of 56.68, Haynes scored 7,487 in 116 with 18 centuries at an average of 42.29, and with Garner boasting more wickets and a better average than Hall, with Haynes scoring more runs and more centuries than Walcott, that may have been the reason for the vote.
Greatness is more than career stats, however, and the Bajan fans probably did not remember, for example, Hall's one-man efforts such as the tied Test in Brisbane in 1960 and the Lord's Test of 1963, Walcott against Australia in 1955 when he became the only man to score five centuries in a Test series and the only man to score two centuries in a Test match twice in the same series, and their impact on West Indies and world cricket.
GREAT PLAYERS
Garner and Haynes were great players. In their days, however, they were never like Hall and Walcott who were champions in their days - super stars on the West Indies team.
Not even the West Indies selectors have ever had it so hard, however. To select the best from a set of great players not only from different eras but also from over a time span of 75 years is difficult, very difficult.
The fans in Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and the Combined Islands have enjoyed it, however, and such has been the debate, that it is obvious that those in Jamaica are also enjoying this wonderful West Indian pastime.
Who will the Jamaicans be? No-one is talking. You have to wait and see.
