Former greats admit Windies cricket has lost its charm

Port of Spain, Mar 14 (UNI) The class, grace and glamour associated with the West Indies cricket till the mid-seventies no longer exist and the present generation of players do not inspire others to take to the game, feel the former players who took cricket in the Caribbean to dizzy heights in their time.

''It is going to be tough for the West Indies in the World Cup, I have my reservations about their progress in the Super Eight,'' said former fast bowler Andy Roberts.

And, Colin Croft went further saying, ''The West Indies will have to play 500 per cent better than they have been playing in the last five years if they want to win the showpiece event.'' Croft, a member of the West Indies team that won the World Cup in 1979, however, was frank enough to admit that ''it is unfair to compare the present team with the excellence of Lloyd's and Richards's teams.'' ''The last excellent cricketer to come out of the Caribbean is Brian Lara, maybe Curtly Ambrose, and the last effective fast bowling combination was that of Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Ian Bishop. It's sad but there has been a long gap,'' Croft bemoaned.

Andy Roberts was of the view that the present players lack motivation and ''fire''.

''We used to train for cricket. These days you find that a good amount of time at a practice session is allotted to playing football, rugby or volleyball.'' He said he finds it amusing when ''I hear that coaches now need laptops to sort out the bowlers' problems.'' ''The whole concept seems to have changed. They (the players) are too touchy about what they eat and spend too much time in the gym, in the process the focus is off skills,'' Roberts said.

The former pacer said on-field attitude was the key to a fast bowler's success and one has to keep his cool.

''A fast bowler has to be deceptive and not vent his anger on the field. Misdirected anger, which is seen frequently these days, does a bowler in. The batsman automatically gets on top of you as you begin to stray if you lose it in the mind,'' Roberts added.

Another great of his time, Joel Garner, said, ''Our cricket did not stop after practice, but continued late into the night in the form of discussion.'' ''At times, we would also keep off Christmas celebrations just to talk cricket. I don't see that happening now, it's all mechanical.'' The Big Bird, as Garner is known, said, ''We have neglected cricket at the development stage. The change has to come at the junior level. It's time West Indies cricket administrators brought about it.'' ''I used to go to the ground and keep bowling at the stumps with a groundsman retrieving the balls. First, I would bowl with three stumps on, then two, then one. There were no coaches at that time. We all came up on our own,'' Garner added.

UNI