From left, Tony Becca and Courtney Walsh
Tony Becca
WHO ARE the five greatest West Indies cricketers of all time? Will George Headley be one, will Brian Lara be one, or will Malcolm Marshall?
The names of all five will be announced on Tuesday, July 27, during the Scotiabank West Indian Jubilee Gala at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham the day after the first West Indies vs England Test match at Lord's.
The Wisden Jury, the selection committee, has been busy and out of the 26 players selected by the fans in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and the Leeward Islands and Windward Islands, plus the four wildcards selected by the Jury, it has whittled the list down to the top 15.
According to fan vote, the Barbados seven were Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Everton Weekes, Malcolm Marshall, Gordon Greenidge, Joel Garner and Desmond Haynes.
Jamaica's five were Courtney Walsh, Michael Holding, George Headley, Lawrence Rowe and Jeffrey Dujon. Trinidad & Tobago's five were Brian Lara, Larry Gomes, Sir Learie Constantine, Ian Bishop and Sonny Ramadhin.
LEEWARD, WINDWARD
Guyana's five were Clive Lloyd, Rohan Kanhai, Carl Hooper, Lance Gibbs and Shivnarine Chanderpaul while the four from the Leeward and Windward Islands were Sir Vivian Richards, Curtly Ambrose, Andy Roberts and Richie Richardson.
On top of those 26 players the Jury had four wildcards for players that were snubbed by their own fans. These went to Sir Clyde Walcott and Wes Hall of Barbados, Alfred Valentine of Jamaica and Alvin Kallicharran of Guyana to create the initial list of 30.
In selecting the top 15 players, the 30-member panel of jurors from the West Indies, England, Australia, New Zealand and India voted from the pool of 30 players and when the count was over, it was, in alphabetical order: Ambrose, Gibbs, Headley, Holding, Kanhai, Lara, Lloyd, Marshall, Richards, Roberts, Sobers, Walcott, Walsh, Weekes and Worrell.
Is there a big name that is there that should not have been there? Maybe not. There must be a few, however who are not there but probably should be there.
NOT IN THE GROUP
The great opening batsman Greenidge, for example, is not among the group of 15, neither is his partner Desmond Haynes. Fast bowler Joel Garner is missing, and so too mystery spinner Ramadhin.
What is interesting, very interesting, is that although the fans of Barbados voted for Greenidge, Haynes and Garner in their top seven and left out Walcott, the Jury, probably in an effort not to split up the 'W' triumvirate, went for him instead of any of the three.
Of interest also, is that although the Jury selected the four wild cards, although its members paid tribute to Walcott, Hall, Valentine and Kallicharran for their brilliance and their undoubted contribution to the glory of West Indies cricket, only Walcott made it into the round of 15.
Who are the five greatest West Indies cricketers of all time? It's now down from 30 to 15, and the territorial count reads: Barbados 5, Jamaica 3, Guyana 3, the combined Leeward Islands and Windward Islands 3, and T&T 1.
