Give England credit for Caribbean win says Pocock of '68 team
by Julian Guyer
Monday, April 5, 2004
LONDON, England (AFP): Pat Pocock, a member
of the last England squad to win a Test series away to the West Indies, urged
fans Sunday not to devalue the achievement of Michael Vaughan's men in ending
a 36-year Caribbean drought by focusing on the hosts' weaknesses.
England's eight-wicket win inside three days
in the third Test in Barbados on Saturday saw the tourists take an
unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of four series.
However many pundits have argued that Brian
Lara's team is the worst West Indian line-up in living memory.
But former Surrey off-spinner Pocock told
AFP here Sunday. "I'm just concerned that the public don't do what the British
public often do and rubbish the opposition.
"It's true that you can't compare this West
Indian team to one featuring players like (Garfield) Sobers, (Rohan) Kanhai, (Clive)
Lloyd and (Lance) Gibbs," Pocock said.
"But the present team has got some
experienced players in it who have helped the West Indies win Test matches."
Pocock made his Test debut during England's
last series win in the Caribbean in 1968 when a star-studded side led by the
late Colin Cowdrey, one of the all-time batting greats, triumphed 1-0 in a
five-match series.
"I don't think there's been another series
where England had so many great and very good players in the one team. Just
look at the batting order alone - John Edrich, Geoff Boycott, Colin Cowdrey,
Tom Graveney, Ken Barrington, Basil D'Oliveira, Jim Parks and Alan Knott as
wicket-keepers.
"There were a lot of great names in there
but they didn't always all play as a unit.
"There was a lot of competition between the
likes of Cowdrey, Boycott and Graveney. They all wanted to outdo each other,"
explained Pocock, whose 25 Test appearances spanned three decades.
"I didn't realise it at the time, but when I
went on Tony Lewis's tour to India and Pakistan in 1972-73 and David Gower's
tour to India in 1984 there was a better team spirit."
Unlike the present series, where spin
bowlers on both sides have been reduced to bit-part players, slow bowling
played an important part back in 1968 with off-spinner Gibbs, who finished his
career as the leading wicket-taker in Test history, to the fore.
"Lance Gibbs bowled a lot of overs in that
series," Pocock recalled. "And having Sobers was like having an extra player
because he could bowl in so many styles."
"They also had (fast bowlers) Wes Hall and
Charlie Griffith. But when I returned in 1973-74 on Tong Greig's tour, the
emphasis was starting to shift towards pace."
Unlike current teams, including England,
where all players are urged to contribute their thoughts for the good of the
side, Pocock found himself in a dressing room where the old hierarchies held
sway.
"This was the era of the junior pro and the
senior pro. I'm quite a chatty person but Tom Graveney used to remind me of my
place on a regular basis. Now they seem as if they are all in it together, but
the pecking order was very relevant in '68."
Another factor very much in evidence back
then was the West Indian passion for cricket which Pocock believes has dimmed
over the years.
"This (series defeat) won't help. This is
the first time I haven't been out there on an England tour since I stopped
playing," explained Pocock who has helped organise supporters' trips.
"But I don't think it is given the same
attention. Everything stopped for five days when the Test match was on in
Barbados. They are still passionate but cricket was like a religion then."
Coming back to the present, Pocock said it
was important England fans didn't measure the team's progress simply by their
record against Australia - England have not beaten their oldest foes in a Test
series since 1986-87 but next year will have a chance to wrest back the Ashes
on home soil.
"England have had some tremendous wins over
the past half-dozen years. To win series in Pakistan and Sri Lanka is really
something.
"It's just that when we play Australia and
come a long way second the media and public get on the team's backs and say
'they are all rubbish'."
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