Legendary West Indian captain Clive Lloyd was in London on Tuesday (February 19) at an event marking 100 days for the World Cup 2019 to get underway in England and Wales.
Besides Lloyd, former English cricketers Nasser Hussain, Graeme Swann, Alastair Cook and James Anderson were also there at the event. However, none of them apart from Llyod knew what it is to be a World Cup winner.
Under Lloyd’s captaincy, Windies had won the first two editions of World Cup in England. The 74-year-old had himself scored a dazzling 85-ball 102 to script the foundation for West Indies’ 17-run victory over Australia in the 1975 World Cup final.
“It was the first World Cup -- they’ll never be another first -- and having won it in front of a large West Indian contingent, it was quite exciting,” Lloyd told AFP.
Recalling his ton and a herculean 149-run stand with the great Rohan Kanhai after being 50/3 in the inaugural edition of World Cup final, Llyod said: “I got a few runs -- I think I got 102 - but the point is I got in there when we lost three quick wickets, so we were in a spot of bother.
“Rohan Kanhai and myself sort of rallied the situation and then we got to a pretty good score. We had a total that we can defend and we defended it quite well. Although it was close in the end, we were always in the ascendancy,” he further added.
West Indies might have qualified for this year’s World Cup after playing a qualifying event but Llyod reckons they could cause a few upsets at the mega-event, especially if the swashbuckling opener Chris Gayle finds his mojo back.
Gayle is making a return to international cricket with the five-match ODI series against England, starting on Wednesday (February 20). The Universe Boss has already announced that he will bid adieu from the 50-over format after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
“I think they can be quite a formidable side if they choose the right team. We have some good one-day players and let’s hope Mr Gayle fires in more ways than one. I think they can do very well in this competition,” Clive Llyod concluded.
