Ganeshbabu Venkat has an interview in Wisden India with Barbadian cricketer Franklyn Stephenson who was barred from West Indies cricket after taking part in the rebel tour of South Africa and never played a match for the West Indies. Looking back, Stephenson says:

"My first year with Notts, I was the Wisden Player of the year, taking 125 wickets and scoring 1018 runs. I achieved the ‘double’ in England. I was barely 30 at that time, with lots of cricket left to offer for West Indies. I’m not saying this to brag but to put things in perspective. Only short-sighted people could keep me away from West Indies cricket. Our cricket was run by stupid people then and not much has changed now."

He also reflects on his illustrious first class career:

The two centuries and 11 wickets against Yorkshire in 1988 was a moment to cherish. I loved playing for Free State under the captaincy of the late Hansie Cronje. Winning the 1993-94 limited-overs tournament for Free State was special. We had to play a best of three semifinals against Western Province. By finishing ahead of WP, we had the home advantage. 

When we walked out to bowl, I told Hansie, “There is no second or third spell in this game for me. I bowl my 10 overs straight”. I put them under pressure by getting three quick scalps. Having reached 140 for 9, they needed six runs from the final over. Allan Donald castled the last man and we won by 5 runs. I won the man of the match for figures of 10-3-12-3. In the finals, we blew Natal away. That was special, since you don’t expect to win those games.

The full interview is at Wisden India.

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In reply to CaribbeanCricket.com

I concur with his observations . Yet
despite all this Cricket in the
Region is being governed by People who , from a Cricket perspective , are Mentally Challenged .

Perhaps that is why throughout the years , the MIMIC MEN have steadfastly clung to their 89 years
old Structure .

Their continuously bleating that it
is the fault of the Coaches ; the Players etc at this point rings exceedingly hollow .

In reply to POINT

Boss. Give it a rest.. lol

In reply to gvenkat

Good interview. Stephenson seems like an intelligent guy.

In reply to Walco Quite so...but, I'm lmao.

In reply to Walco

...and bitter too with an axe to grind

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy

Unfortunately Yes. But can you blame him? Ezra Moseley was given a chance, But not this guy who had a better record and WI needed an all rounder that that time..

He had a lot of stories to share.. I enjoyed the stories he had to tell me about his provincial South African experiences.

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy

Why you feel that Cookie bitter and have an axe to grind.......dat is the thing wid we, when someone tell the raw truth about the goings-on in west indies cricket,(then and now) somebody does rise up and feel that dey bitter/angry.......Cookie is a fella that does call it like it is, and that type of individual is not wanted round the cricket.........but I hearing that the flatbed truck loading up wid some dirt, I hope it doan bruk down..........

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy
and neither is he humble .....right???

In reply to FuzzyWuzzy

Don't we all?

In reply to johndom90

Stephenson is at least as humble as Dave ... and he only has one axe to grind. Dave has several axes grinding away ...

In reply to cherri

In reply to Walco

I was being cryptic with the word humble......as in b quiet...dont rock the boat...question authority.....cricketers need to be good boys.

In reply to gvenkat

Why are you interviewing WI cricketers? Can't West Indians do it?

In reply to Khaga

He's ingratiating himself.

If I were on a non West Indian message board, I'd try my darnest to emulate.

In reply to Khaga

What if they wanted to talk to Indians?

Did you guys listen to Viv Raving about this guy's slower balls?