Lloyd always showed commitment to West Indian cricket

by A.C. De Silva

FLASHBACK: The highly respected match referee - Clive Lloyd of the West Indies will celebrate his 69th birthday on August 31st. The 6 foot 4 inches tall Lloyd has earned the respect of all cricket fans, not only in the West Indies but everywhere the game of cricket is played, including Sri Lanka.

There was a time that Lloyd was in Sri Lanka at the time of his birthday that was when he became 61 and the function was held at Galle Face Hotel in Colombo.

At a height of 6 feet 4 inches he had the height to his credit to tame many bowlers the world over. He made his Test debut for the West Indies on the 13th of December in 1966 against India.It can be said that he is the only captain to win the World Cup twice - 1975 and 1979 - both at Lord's. While he was at the helm of the West Indies team between 1974 and 1985, they signalled an unprecedented dominance of the game worldwide. After retirement, he was Manager of the West Indies team and an International Cricket Council match referee.

During the period of his captaincy (that's between 1974 and 1985) one oversaw the Windies rise in cricket to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s. He is still one of the most successful Test captains of all times during his captaincy the side had run of 27 matches without defeat, which included 11 wins in succession (Viv Richards acted as captain for one of the 27 matches, against Australia at Port-of-Spain in 1983-84).

He was the first West Indian player to earn 100 International Caps. Lloyd captained the West Indies in three World Cups. They won the 1975 final (Lloyd scoring a majestic century), and the 1979 final. They were very strong favourites for the 1983 final but surprisingly lost to India.

Clive Lloyd hits out

Lloyd was a tall, powerful middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler. In his youth, he was also one of the finest cover point fielders of his generation. He scored over 7,500 runs at Test level, at an average of 46.67.

His scholarly appearance and slight stoop masked his obvious talent as a batsman. He wore his famous glasses due to a fight when he was young at school, which damaged his eyes.

He hit 77 sixes in his Test career. Lloyd played for his home nation of Guyana in West Indies domestic cricket, and for Lancashire (he was made captain in 1981) in England.

His Test match debut came in 1966. In 1971 he was named 'Wisden Cricketer of the Year'. He is a cousin of Spin bowler Lance Gibbs.

Lloyd in Sri Lanka 1967

It will be recalled that Clive Lloyd, the 'Gentleman Cricketer" first visited Sri Lanka in 1967, where at the age of 22, he was the youngest member of the West Indies team which was captained by the great Sir Garfield St Auburn Sobers.

In a match against the then All Ceylon team captained by Michael Tissera, Lloyd hit a fine century. Sobers also scored a forceful century in that match which was played at Colombo Oval.

Clive Lloyd was a batsman who could destroy an attack; the difference between him and Vivian Richards was that he seemed to be almost apologetic for every stroke he made. Richards made no secret of his contempt for any form of bowling but Lloyd seemed a relatively humble figure as he waited for the bowler to arrive.

Once the ball reached him, it was a different story; it would be screaming along the ground or hit hard and high, or met with a perfect forward defensive stroke.

There was so much power in his hands that that forward prod sometimes went to the fence. He could hook with great power and he did not fear the bouncer.

Height a telling factor

Lloyd's height gave him tremendous reach and this was an advantage when it came to playing spin. He could meet the ball long way down the track and smother the spin. But he was not averse to using his feet either and in his very first Test as captain gave Prasanna, Bedi and Chandrasekhar a taste of what he could do by smashing them all over the place while scoring 163 in the second innings at Bangalore. He did not hesitate to go down the track nor did he ever think twice about punishing the bowler from his crease.

At the start of his career, Lloyd was a pretty useful bowler and a cover fielder who was terrifyingly quick, good enough to be compared with South Africa's Colin Bland and Australian Paul Sheahan.

But injury forced him to shift to the slips where he spent a great deal pouching difficult chances and easy ones too in those huge hands.

There was a great deal of determination in him, a fire which burned, and made him want to push himself and his team to new heights. He fought back after sustaining a spinal injury in Australia in 1971, an injury which kept him in hospital for a month.