By Harold de Andrado
If Sir Frank Worrell was West Indies’ greatest captain, Clive Lloyd was their finest and most successful captain. The figures over his two decade cricket career just say a lot. Clive brought the West Indies to the top of the cricketing ladder in 1976 and kept them there till his retirement. Vivian Richards carried on Clive’s good work and was perhaps the only West Indian captain who never lost a Test series. Clive lost just one series in 1975-76 to Greg Chappell’s Australians 1-5. Lillee and Thomson were the destroyers and the brilliant prolific batsmanship of Greg Chappell himself. That was a lesson he put to good use and it was he who nurtured the great fast bowlers Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall right up to Courtney Walsh and Curtley Ambrose. That was a ploy that kept West Indies cricket on top of the Test cricket world during the next 15 years. Clive also won the first two World Cups and narrowly lost the third. His brilliant century in the First World Cup contributed greatly to that 17 run triumph. Clive made his Test debut in India in 1966-67. I was privileged to witness his fine batting while sitting besides Sir Frank Worrell in the VIP enclosure at the Chepauk for Clive as did the late Conrad Hunte who was vice captain of that team, when we all met at the Hotel Connemara a few days later.

Clive Lloyd on his form should have been on the English tour of 1966 but, inter island rivalry, the curse of West Indian cricket at that time and unfair bargaining deprived Clive of his rightful place.

Talking of Sir Frank Worrell a great favourite of Sri Lanka, is the one man who united West Indian cricket to show them their winning ways from which they never looked back. That fatal meeting of ours at Madras was just a few weeks before his untimely death. He appeared so fit and fine, but he knew that he was dying of that dreaded disease leukemia. His wife Velda also joined him a few years later and their only daughter Lona is today married to Clyde Walcott’s son.

Clive is much disturbed at the decline of current West Indian cricket but like most of us is confident of their revival in the forseeable future. Whatever he does is done thoroughly. Today he is one of the leading match referees of the ICC together with our own Ranjan Madugalle. Both have a very high reputation for their integrity.

To me George Headley was the greatest of all West Indian batsmen though the present generation may be sceptical of it. His century as a veteran at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in 1949 against our schoolboys was a sight for sore eyes. His brilliant stroke play, the runs he made and the manner of its making confirmed why he is often bracketed with Sir Don and was called the "Black Bradman". His batting average in the sixties makes him certainly next in line. He was the fore-runner of great West Indian batsmanship to be followed by the 3 W’s, Sobers, Kanhai, Clive Lloyd himself, Viv Richards right up to Brian Lara who has still got some way to go to emulate them.

Clive was also in the same class as Constantine, Neil Harvey or Jonty Rhodes as a brilliant fieldsman in any position.

It was good speaking to him again when he was here as Referee of the Australia vs Pakistan Test. He is now happily settled in England with his wife Waverey and three children. We saw and heard a great deal of his prowess as an excellent cricketer. We will be hearing and seeing more of him as an equally good administrator.