'This Windies team can go places'

Sir Viv Richards believes a West Indian victory in the forthcoming World Cup will trigger "one of the biggest parties ever", and he has high hopes that the region can star both on and off the field in the next two months.

"The World Cup means so much to us," Richards, a two-times winner in 1975 and 1979, told Cricinfo on the eve of the tournament. "I like to believe that the Caribbean is ready. Everything is looking in place and we have the stadiums for when the tournament begins.

"An extra motivational factor is that no country who has ever hosted the World Cup has won it, so that's something I'm very excited about. If it does happen, I can tell you, it's going to be one of the biggest parties ever. I think it could be classified up there with the best of our carnivals. In the Caribbean you'll see something different."

It hasn't been an easy build-up to the tournament, with several doubts still being voiced about the Caribbean's infrastructure, but Richards, who turns 55 on Wednesday, shrugged off the doubts, pointing to the UK's own Wembley Stadium as evidence that such ambitious building projects tend to suffer their share of "hiccups" along the way.

"We are very small environments," said Richards, whose home island of Antigua recently inaugurated the new Sir Viv Richards Stadium in St John's. "We've got to think a little bit bigger than the smallness that we are thinking at present. If we can accomplish these things, we are going to go places. Hosting anything of huge numbers, whether it's a party or a World Cup, you're going to get hiccups at some point. We are no different to any other."

Richards, who is an ambassador for the Johnnie Walker "Know Your Boundaries" campaign, was adamant that the tournament was wide open. "No team is going to win the World Cup by right," he added. "There's always an element of luck involved, in business or in sport. If you get the rub of the green, if you get the breaks, that helps to take you a long way.

"In my day, we had a lot of guys who were very good bowlers, some of the best we've ever seen," added Richards, citing the likes of Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner. "Things have changed but it's my belief that this team, with its ability at present, can go places. This present team does have it in them to go all the way."

Much has been made in recent years of the lure of high-income American sports such as basketball that are creaming off the most athletic cricketers - particularly potential fast bowlers. But Richards believed the trend could be reversed if the tournament was a success. "All fingers crossed," he said. "It can be a guiding light to give West Indies the negotiating power in the future, especially with all the new stadiums and the refurbishing of so many old cricket grounds."

And Richards reserved special mention for one of the undisputed greats of the game, West Indies' captain, Brian Lara, for whom this is surely his final World Cup. "I hope he gets a magnificent send-off," said Richards. "It would be fitting because of all the trials and tribulations that he has had during his tenure as captain. It would be fitting for him, the great man, to cap his career with victory, because the West Indies would love him for ever."