Winston Davis

Malcolm Marshall

Balwinder Sandhu

Madan Lal

Winston talk

Chris Gayle

Afile pic of Winston Davis bowling in 1987. ( right) Davis now lives a crippled life on a wheelchair, with carers by his side 24/7

Mirror visits forgotten World Cup star, now immobile and forlorn, who reveals some unheard things about the memorable 1983 finalOnce upon a time in the Caribbean… There was aman of boundless energy with a desire to serve society and resolve to make a difference to his people and be an ideal citizen. The pastor of the local church issues a call to do a bit of cleaning in the area, so that service can be organised. The man gets down to cleaning up the place, goes up to a tree to bring down a branch and suddenly both the man and the branch come down crashing. The rest, as they don’t say, is not just history but tragedy.Winston Davis has not stood up on his feet since November 1, 1997. The branch hit him on the head, broke his neck on C4 and C5, leaving him instantly paralysed. Months and years of treatments, in US and UK, failed to make him the man he was before that terminal mishap. Now, he lives a crippled life on a wheelchair, with carers by his side 24/7. On his own, he can’t lift a tea cup, the caretaker makes him sip it. In his playing days, the red cricket ball would disappear at 90 MPH, leaving the batsmen world over to fend for themselves. Now, he struggles to touch a golf ball that has been custom made into a remote to control the wheel chair.So for the last 20 years… “…for the last 22 years, I’ve been sitting on the wheel chair, basically trying to live life,” Davis, now 60, intervenes. There is no visible sense of grief in his eyes, no sense of choke in his voice and it doesn’t appear even once that he’s seeking sympathy.“I’m happy…cricket mirrors life,” he goes into a philosophical mode. “One day you get 5/10, next you are hit for none for 100. This beautiful game prepares you for all kinds of adversities in life,” he pauses beforecontinuing, “I personally would not wish this life on anyone. It is a difficult life, a challenging life, but not an impossible life. You can live with help.”When Mirror met him at a onebedroom tiny flat in the Midlands near Birmingham, Davis was warm and jovial in his welcome. He offered tea, though he needed assistance to sip it imself. “Good carers make lifemuch better than you thought,” he says with a sense of gratitude to the young lady in the room. “You can’t minimise the importance of good care. All these girls…without them you wouldn’t be speaking to me today. They are the invisible oxygen,” he ruminates, the words clearly reflecting his life.Mirror was one of the few to have visited him in recent times. “See, I’m like a new-born baby. I can’t pick a hand, so use arms but sympathy doesn’t get you anywhere. It is about practicality of life. It’s tough but we manage,” he says. He has got a lot of support from the Professional Cricketers’ Trust in the UK (managed by the players’ union). Friends and family have come to his assistance. “The Worcestershire County Council come to my help. Many others also have.”“The PCA has even given me customised car in which I can travel,” he says. Occasionally he goes to the Edgbaston, where the PCA has a box of its own. He hopes to be there for the India-England game on June 30.While he’s coping with physical challenges, he keeps following cricket; he appeared to be totally updated -– IPL, World Cup preparation, state of pitches and the weather in England. He remembers everything about the past too.He recalls his best moment in the World Cup, against Australia – 7/51 at Headingley in 1983. For 20 years, it remained the best bowling figures in the World Cup till Glenn McGrath bettered him with 7/15 against Namibia in the showpiece event in 2003.“I remember when the team was announced the previous evening, I was not in the XI. About half an hour before the match, I was told by captain Clive Lloyd that I was in the team becausehad not been feeling well overnight. When I came on to bowl my first five overs, I was hit around the park. I think my first five overs cost 35 runs. Seven runs an over. In my next five overs I took seven for 16. That was a comeback. It was one of those up and down days, but it ended well,” he recalls. West Indies defended 252 after Australia raced to 100 for 2. “I don’t know if you can compare the performance of McGrath with mine. He got seven wickets against Namibia. I don’t think the two things can be compared. Seven wickets are seven wickets anyway, but if you ask me, I would prefer seven wickets against Australia than Namibia,” he remarks. Two others have recorded better figures since 2003.But the question had to be about the 1983 final — he recounts the events as if they happened yesterday. “We qualified easily for the final. So too had India. We met at Lord’s. We won the toss and put India in to bat. We had Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Gomes, Lloyds, Bacchus. India had good seamers, Kapil Dev,and. They made us fight for every run and we succumbed to pressure. Plain and simple.“I was not part of the team, I was in the dressing room. All I can say is they succumbed to the pressure of history. Maybe the pressure factor was not easily recognised. There is no other reason, why we lost. Even a diehard Indian supporter would have said West Indies.“I saw big men cry. As we lost wickets, when it was clear we are going to lose, I saw them cry. I am not going to tell you who they were but I know that it hurt them. You would think it is just a game but cricket between nations is much more than a game. There is national…I don’t like the word pride… psyche involved.“If you look back, when West Indies dominated world cricket, the West Indies were only about five million people from 10 different countries. All other teams had so much more resources than we had. Yet we dominated the world. We were not an economic power, nor a military power. We were a cricketing world power.”I would have liked to play more matches for the West Indies. I thought I had done enough to get more opportunities that it was not to be. When I look back at my career, Ienjoy every moment of it nevertheless.Well, I played 15 Tests and 11 of them were against India. Out of them, 10 in India and one in the Caribbean. What made the difference was the West Indies had four fast bowlers, who were able to bowl fast in any condition. In India, the wickets were abit slow and seemed to blunt our pace. I enjoyed battles with the Indian batsmen.There are bowlers with talent. I think the problem is they are looking for consistency. A good fast bowler becomes great with consistency. In the West Indies they are searching for consistency.There are some good signs. One of the problems I have observed over the years is in their attitude. Looking from outside, they don’t seem to have the attitude of putting the team before self. That is one thing I valued when I played in the 80s. Not that self was not important, they had a different way of looking at things. It seemed from the outside, it was different in the last 10 years.Ilike it. I think if they can play to their best ability, the West Indies can go far. It is a long tournament and it is going to be tough. One or two slip-ups can cost you a semifinal place. Out of the 10, the WI would feel confident against Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and even Pakistan. They may feel they can roll these teams over.Well,, needs no introduction. Russell (Andre) did well in the IPL and I am looking forward to seeing captain Jason Holder. To pass the test of English conditions with bat and ball is difficult. Holder can be a dangerous batsman. Shai Hope is good too.England. It may or may not favour them because you are under scrutiny. But they have got a very good side. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on England. Teams like India, New Zealand and Australia will come into the picture be-cause of their competitive nature.Ican’t think that none of the current top 10 batsmen are better than the top 10 of the 90s. Generally, the bowlers can’t be compared either. I would have found T20 particularly challenging because it is tango fromball one. It would have been fun to play first-class cricket [these days].It has made fast bowling a bit more defensive. You first start with not to give away runs. Especially in the first power play. I am disappointed with the death bowling. I see the use of fast, full pitch ball has declined.Many can’t do that consistently.Fast yorkers, aimed at the stumps, will still be a profitable weapon. But they use the ramp. I still think out of 10 if you succeed seven times it is a winner. I bowl 10 yorkers, if seven are on the stumps, I would be happy, even if the other three went for six.