Former national cricketers Rangy Nanan and Alvin Corneal have come out in support of Cricinfo.com's selection of its West Indian All Time XI which was released yesterday. The final team included Gordon Greenidge, Sir Conrad Hunte, George Headley, Sir Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sir Gary Sobers, Jackie Hendriks, Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, Curtley Ambrose and Lance Gibbs.
Nanan, who took 366 first class wickets for T&T between 1973 and 1991, felt the jury did a balanced job. "I'm pretty happy about the list," he said. "Naturally, people throughout the Caribbean will have contrasting opinions but it's always going to be difficult to select an all-time team with all of the brilliant players we've had over the years." Given the chance to make any changes, Nanan said he would have made room for Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Everton Weekes. "I'm not sure if I would have gone with Jackie Hendriks in the wicketkeeping position," he said. "I would have quicker chosen Clyde Walcott since Jackie wasn't really a batsman. I would also have made room for Everton Weekes, but the rest of the list would have remained the same."
Corneal, whose national cricket career spanned from 1959-1977, was also impressed with the jury's judgement. "It's a pretty good selection and I'm comfortable with it," he said. "There are so many great players to choose from and it's unfortunate that some had to be left out." However, he agreed that Walcott would have been better behind the stumps and made a case for Sir Frank Worrell to lead the team. "As a wicketkeeper alone, I would consider Jackie Hendriks to be our best but Walcott could win you a match as a batsman," he said.
"I would have had Worrell in the team for his leadership at the expense of maybe Richards or even Ambrose since he (Worrell) was a capable bowler himself. "The gap among the batsmen could not have been very big. Nobody could replace George Headley and I don't think the world has seen a better player over the last 20 years than Brian Lara. "Malcolm Marshall was the most perfect fast bowler that ever lived and Michael Holding was the marquee fast bowler of his time."
Cricinfo's XI
1. Gordon Greenidge
2. Conrad Hunte
3. George Headley
4. Vivian Richards
5. Brian Lara
6. Garry Sobers
7. Jackie Hendriks
8. Malcolm Marshall
9. Michael Holding
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. Lance Gibbs.
