(Part 19.) Off-spinning stylist. In the year of the World Cup, Lance Gibbs stood on the verge of history. Although approaching his 41st birthday, the lanky off-spinner with the classic high arm action was just 15 victims away from eclipsing former England fast bowler Fred Trueman’s tally of 307 to …

(Part 18.) Silent assassin. Andy Roberts was a ground-breaker—the first from Antigua and Barbuda to play senior international cricket for the West Indies. He was also a jaw-breaker. Many an unsuspecting batsman fell victim, painfully, to his clever variations of pace and the other impressive tools which made him the …

(Part 17.) Steady stalwart. “We don’t need Andy Roberts, Croft and Garner when we have superstar Vanburn Holder!” In pretending to be the voice of then West Indies Cricket Board of Control president Jeffrey Stollmeyer—at the time of the exodus of most first-choice players to Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket …

(Part 16.) Man for a crisis. Clive Lloyd lifted the trophy and provided the stellar individual performance of the 1975 World Cup final, but it was the quietly efficient man behind the stumps who sealed the triumph for the West Indies—his underarm return finding a diving last man Jeff Thomson …

(Part 15.) Talent to burn. Bernard Julien had everything… almost. Shots all around the wicket, left-arm swing, athletic in the field and, just to ensure there was more than a bit of style to go with the substance, that classic 1970s look complete with afro, sideburns and saga-boy swagger. You …

(Part 14.) No half measures. On or off the cricket field, Keith Boyce never observed the speed limit. Which is why, sadly, this creature of excess became a victim of his lifestyle when he died of a suspected heart attack in his native Barbados on his 53rd birthday in 1996. …

(Part thirteen.) Greatness-in-waiting. Most of the individual batting records of Vivian Richards have long been surpassed. But, with 38 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ defeat of Australia in the inaugural men’s World Cup final at Lord’s, it is worth pointing out one unwanted achievement …

(Part twelve.) Diminutive stylist. This series of at-the-point-in-time profiles on the 1975 West Indies Cricket World Cup squad is being done in the batting order of the final—except for recognition already given to senior statesman Rohan Kanhai and his successor as captain, Clive Lloyd. Which is why, with 39 days …

(Part eleven.) Angry ‘outsider’. In any discussion about an all-time West Indies Test XI, the name Gordon Greenidge is almost always included as one of the openers. This has as much to do with Greenidge’s technical correctness and fiercely combative attitude to the new ball as it does with his …

(Part ten.) Fast and furious. It used to be said of Roy Fredericks that his version of batting heaven was for every bowler to have a new ball, such was his appetite for the pacy, bouncy stuff. And while his most memorable moment would come a few months after, with …

(Part nine.) Leader supreme. Clive Lloyd is automatically associated with the West Indies’ unprecedented period of dominance of world cricket: the era of invincibility in Test series from 1980 to 1995, via the fearsome foursomes and an array of world-class batsmen, including himself. However, the big Guyanese left-hander had already …

(Part eight.) Ultimate dasher. Garry Sobers’ untimely injury presented another recently-retired senior pro with the opportunity to appear at the 1975 World Cup. And with 43 days to go to the 50th anniversary of the West Indies’ triumph in the final at Lord’s, Rohan Kanhai takes centre stage. Initially the …