'418 to Win'
Wed, Mar 24, '04
In Vijay Kumar's new book "418 to win," the reader is offered a rare insight into what goes on during the frenetic record-breaking run chase against Australia last year. Kumar has managed to capture and chronicle the emotions and thoughts and suspense that are all part of a winning run chase.
I sat down with Kumar in Jamaica where he was attending the first test between West Indies and England and in marketing his book. Here is the author in his own words:
Lawrence Romeo: Why did you write this book?
Vijay Kumar: First of all, it was an historic event that needed to be chronicled; In reality, it was was one of the few highpoints in West Indies cricket in the last ten years. Going back to Brian Lara's world record 375 in 1994 in Antigua against England, so I thought given that this was a team effort, 418 to win, and no team had ever accomplished that feat, I thought that it was imperative that it be documented.
LR: A cynic would say that the West Indies lost this series.
VK: Well there's no question about that, that we lost the series, I think we avoided an historic whitewash in the Caribbean, that has never happened, that's one. And two, it was the final test match of the series, and it still showed that we do have talent, it showed that we have players who could fight, and it gave promise for the future.
LR: What has been you level of involvement in West Indies cricket?
VK: I've been following West Indies cricket ever since I was a boy growing up in Guyana in the 1970s, going to Georgetown cricket club, the Bourda ground to see test matches, I moved to the US in the early 80's and I've been based in the Caribbean since 1988.
LR: Ever played the game seriously?
VK: I've played what we call 'bat and ball'.
LR: What other books have you written?
VK: I've written one in 2000 called "Cricket Lovely Cricket" (co-authored with Sir Everton Weekes) which was to commemorate the 1950 West Indies tour of England, there was a famous Calypso that came out called "Cricket Lovely Cricket" (composed by Lord Beginner, 1950) and hence the title of the book.
LR: What can the reader expect when they read this book?
VK: The reader can expect a graphic description of the match, but at the same time it runs like a novel, everyone knows the result, and the first reaction the reader would probably think is a whole book of 160 pages on one test match, what you find in the book is about 200 both current and historical pictures and at the same time, it's a gripping story.
I was recently in the company of Ronnie Sarwan and he said that he's about three-quarters of the way through, and that was his assessment. That pretty much makes you feel very good about it because it's a vote of confidence as such, because coming from a player who actually played in the game, and to come and tell you that reading it, it was really gripping which is the intended effect.
In addition to that it's laced with the relevant statistics both current and historical and photographs, both current and historical so that to the modern reader, when you mention a Roy Fredericks, they can know who he is and how he looked. The modern generation tends to relate to graphics more than text, but the pictures themselves for example when Devon Smith is compared to Roy Fredericks, there is a picture of Fredericks to make the comparison.
Jermaine Lawson described as his heroes, Walsh and Ambrose so there are photographs of them with their relevant statistics under the captions. This is all done with a particularly West Indian slant, because it's about a West Indian victory. I also included some of the back and forth that went on between myself and the photographer Colin "Bones" Cumberbatch who provided most of the pictures that are included in the book.
LR: Having witnessed this victory what do you think would be the main ingredient for a West Indies turnaround?
VK: I think what's been lacking in the WI team is consistency, and Brian Lara said it in Zimbabwe when we struggled to save first test match, he could not comprehend how on one day you can play against the worlds best team, the Australians, and make 418 in the 4th inning of a test match. A feat which has never been accomplished in 127 years if test history, and in the very next test match against Zimbabwe, a tail-ender Fidel Edwards, a rookie at that in his second test match, has to struggle to save the test match for you.
So a key ingredient is consistency, but underlying the inconsistency has to be several flaws in the team. On the surface of it, I can't point my finger to that, but logic would dictate that you can't have a team that makes 418 to win one day and the next day they're struggling, and only yesterday we saw a team that couldn't make 50 runs in their second innings.
LR: What's next for Vijay Kumar?
VK: I'll continue to follow West Indies cricket and document and chronicle it. A critical aspect that the game requires in this day and age is knowledge of our heroes and our heritage. I think it was Marcus Garvey who said that a tree without its roots is dead, similarly, with the younger players who are coming along, if they don't know who a Gary Sobers, a Rohan Kanhai, a Basil Butcher or the 3 W's were, they wouldn't have that benchmark to measure themselves and I believe it's very important for current and future generations to know that.
The project that I'm currently involved in is a definitive history of West Indies cricket which I'm hoping to release in 2006.
LR: Are sales of the book going well, and where would the book be available?
VK: Yes. I am very pleased with the way sales are going. I started marketing to companies by allowing them to personalize the dust jacket, in addition copies of the book will be available at all the Test and One Day venues during this series. I must also thank the CEO Roger Braithwaite for his assistance in providing unrestricted access to the various venues.
