Says Sobers
LONDON, Reuter: Sir Gray Sobers thinks West Indies cricket is in danger of going into a serious decline if youngsters are not introduced at international level.
Sobers, the former West Indies Captain, said the Caribbean side was still number one in test cricket in test cricket but were “at a crossroads”.
“J would hate to see what happened to us in the early 1970s happen again”, he said. “Then the great West Indies 60s sides went on a bit too long and blocked the development of youngsters coming through”. Sobers, a sports consultant for the Barbados Board of Tourism, said he felt West Indies Captain Viv Richards would find it difficult in the future making the transition from Lancashire League Cricket to the test game.
Richards was released by English County side Somerset at the end of last season and will play league cricket for village club Rishton this year.
Sobers, in London to help launch the sponsorship of the National Club Cricket Competition, tipped England to win this year’s World Cup in India and Pakistan. “They proved in Australia that they are the best one day side in the world at the moment”, he added.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 13, 1987
