Fire in Babylon

0:00:18 > 0:00:20- COMMENTARY:- 'Look at the eyes, the concentration.

0:00:20 > 0:00:22'Trying to unsettle the new batsman.

0:00:22 > 0:00:25'Yes, this is fast bowling. They really are

0:00:25 > 0:00:27'going to get it in at him.'

0:00:27 > 0:00:31- 'Oh, it's a good bouncer.' - 'That is a quick ball.

0:00:31 > 0:00:35'When he wants to turn it on, he's quick.'

0:00:35 > 0:00:39'Oh, yes, that is a fine, aggressive, nasty delivery.'

0:00:42 > 0:00:45'All of a sudden, these West Indians have started to turn it on.'

0:00:45 > 0:00:48- 'Into the body.' - 'You watch this.

0:00:48 > 0:00:51'I reckon this one'll be straight at the jaw as well.

0:00:51 > 0:00:55'Oh, and again, and whizzes past his nose. This is pace like fire.'

0:00:55 > 0:00:59'Shooting up, cutting back, snakes in a long way.'

0:00:59 > 0:01:02'Ooh, that is a magnificent ball.'

0:01:06 > 0:01:09'The West Indies reckon they're on a roll here.'

0:01:09 > 0:01:11'Keep his eye on the ball.

0:01:11 > 0:01:14'You've got to keep looking at it. Look at it. Look at it.

0:01:14 > 0:01:16- 'Oh, he's hit him.'- 'That's hurt.'

0:01:16 > 0:01:18'I've often than wondered why

0:01:18 > 0:01:21'he doesn't wear proper protection. That may have broken his jaw.'

0:01:21 > 0:01:23'It's beginning to swell.'

0:01:23 > 0:01:26'That's not right. I don't care if you're a West Indian

0:01:26 > 0:01:29'or an Englishman. That cannot be right in cricket.'

0:01:29 > 0:01:31All the negative things which were said,

0:01:31 > 0:01:35a lot of folks felt that we were spoiling the game,

0:01:35 > 0:01:37we were aiming to kill. No.

0:01:37 > 0:01:41Aggression meets aggression, and that's how I look at life.

0:01:41 > 0:01:43You fight, I'm going to fight.

0:01:43 > 0:01:47We had a mission, and a mission that we believed in ourselves

0:01:47 > 0:01:50and we believed that we were just as good as anyone.

0:01:50 > 0:01:52Equal, for that matter.

0:01:52 > 0:01:54- COMMENTARY:- 'All is fair in love and war.'

0:01:59 > 0:02:01You know, it was important for me

0:02:01 > 0:02:04to try and instil some of this belief.

0:02:05 > 0:02:09It wasn't going to take ordinary individuals to accomplish that.

0:02:09 > 0:02:12These were a special bunch who felt the same way,

0:02:12 > 0:02:15had the same special consciousness.

0:02:15 > 0:02:17It was a magnificent combination.

0:02:19 > 0:02:23You're speaking about a group of black guys being successful

0:02:23 > 0:02:27for a period of time. People couldn't imagine it was possible.

0:02:29 > 0:02:32The teams before were still subservient to the English.

0:02:32 > 0:02:35They still listened to what the English had to say

0:02:35 > 0:02:37about their own game.

0:02:37 > 0:02:40We were called terrorists and that's a fact, not a boast.

0:02:40 > 0:02:44COMMENTARY: 'The West Indians are a very, very formidable bowling team.'

0:02:47 > 0:02:49It was representing a region,

0:02:49 > 0:02:53representing something more significant than just cricket.

0:02:53 > 0:02:55It was a matter of a feeling of worth.

0:02:58 > 0:03:00We were playing to show our people

0:03:00 > 0:03:03that we were going to make them proud.

0:03:05 > 0:03:08We were setting standards that future West Indian generations

0:03:08 > 0:03:10would have to aspire to.

0:03:10 > 0:03:16That sort of environment that would either make you or break you.

0:03:16 > 0:03:19And you got to make a choice which one you want.

0:03:19 > 0:03:22And we always thought that the day will come

0:03:22 > 0:03:25when we will beat the rest of the world.

0:03:27 > 0:03:29COMMENTARY: He's hit it many a mile.

0:03:39 > 0:03:41DOG BARKS

0:03:45 > 0:03:49In the West Indies, the greatest cricketer is found.

0:03:49 > 0:03:52We, the Caribbean people, on a whole,

0:03:52 > 0:03:54have some kind of a knowledge

0:03:54 > 0:03:58of how to hold a bat or how to bowl a ball.

0:03:58 > 0:04:03Cricket is something that is a daily situation.

0:04:03 > 0:04:06We play cricket for the value of cricket.

0:04:06 > 0:04:09Hey! Hold on a second. Listen, nuh.

0:04:09 > 0:04:12Keep the dog dem round so!

0:04:12 > 0:04:14DOG WHIMPERS

0:04:14 > 0:04:18Let the dog go round! Let him play with them!

0:04:18 > 0:04:22Clap him again! Good!

0:04:22 > 0:04:23DOG WHIMPERS

0:04:23 > 0:04:28I'm a deal with him, man. Hey, just let the dog go round so!

0:04:28 > 0:04:33That's the kind of spirit that's in the Jamaican people for cricket.

0:04:38 > 0:04:40People picture the sunlit islands of the Caribbean

0:04:40 > 0:04:43to be a place of paradise.

0:04:43 > 0:04:45But things were not always so peaceful.

0:04:45 > 0:04:49Our history has been a long and painful struggle against forces

0:04:49 > 0:04:52that denied and oppressed us - Babylon.

0:04:52 > 0:04:55And only through cricket could we win our freedom.

0:04:55 > 0:04:59SHOUTING

0:04:59 > 0:05:01SIREN WAILS

0:05:01 > 0:05:05In the '60s and '70s particularly, it was a real revolutionary time

0:05:05 > 0:05:06throughout the Caribbean,

0:05:06 > 0:05:10that highlighted the tenor and the temper of the times.

0:05:10 > 0:05:14Black people were still not regarded as equals.

0:05:14 > 0:05:17This whole disparity between have and have-not,

0:05:17 > 0:05:22white as have and black as have-not, still existed

0:05:22 > 0:05:24in the Caribbean, as in America.

0:05:24 > 0:05:27Black power, further, was very much on the rise,

0:05:27 > 0:05:29very much part of the upheavals at the time,

0:05:29 > 0:05:34to imbibe in black West Indians a sense, now, of your own power,

0:05:34 > 0:05:36of your own self-worth and pride.

0:05:36 > 0:05:39BELL RINGS

0:05:39 > 0:05:41I taught history.

0:05:41 > 0:05:45A young teacher, involved in the whole revolutionary cosmic.

0:05:47 > 0:05:51I had established a very close relationship with Viv.

0:05:51 > 0:05:55A lot of those youngsters at the time were very interested

0:05:55 > 0:05:57in the black power philosophy

0:05:57 > 0:06:00that would be talked about, and Viv would have been no exception.

0:06:00 > 0:06:04That was the time when I think the heat was on

0:06:04 > 0:06:06for you to start getting up and standing up,

0:06:06 > 0:06:10because of some of the things that you felt were happening worldwide.

0:06:10 > 0:06:13There was a journey for us as black people.

0:06:13 > 0:06:16Africa had to be the starting point.

0:06:18 > 0:06:22The Caribbean people were brought here through colonialism,

0:06:22 > 0:06:26to be cheated of origin, culture, will and bravery.

0:06:26 > 0:06:31Transmitted by the chain, the lynch and the lash.

0:06:31 > 0:06:34Conditioned and trained to be a "nigger."

0:06:35 > 0:06:39You are remnants of your ancestors, for sure. It runs in the blood.

0:06:39 > 0:06:44It is a history of a period that one should never forget.

0:06:44 > 0:06:49Cricket itself was used as one of the instruments of colonising

0:06:49 > 0:06:54and was very much seen as imparting English aristocratic values

0:06:54 > 0:06:56to discipline this "nigger."

0:06:56 > 0:06:59And now here it is - we have ex-slaves,

0:06:59 > 0:07:04trying to excel at something which the English masters had brought on.

0:07:04 > 0:07:07We have an avenue to accomplish and that avenue,

0:07:07 > 0:07:10it's the God-given talent of cricket.

0:07:10 > 0:07:12It's about showing how equal you are,

0:07:12 > 0:07:17and proving that you're a little bit more useful than they see you.

0:07:17 > 0:07:21So that's the kind of fight, that's the kind of struggle,

0:07:21 > 0:07:26and they know they have something to do with righting that wrong.

0:07:30 > 0:07:33It took English society some time to recognise

0:07:33 > 0:07:36that African people felt they were stripped of something

0:07:36 > 0:07:38by colonialism and slavery,

0:07:38 > 0:07:44and this latest generation want to restore a dignity what was taken.

0:07:45 > 0:07:48This is the age of the major Caribbean territories

0:07:48 > 0:07:52asserting their independence - Jamaica in '62,

0:07:52 > 0:07:54Trinidad, and Guyana, and Barbados in '66.

0:07:54 > 0:07:59Independence was seen as the high point of a civil rights struggle

0:07:59 > 0:08:02that had gone on for 100 years.

0:08:02 > 0:08:04We had been born in colonial times.

0:08:04 > 0:08:07We grew up in independent times.

0:08:07 > 0:08:10We started thinking like West Indians and not like Englishmen

0:08:10 > 0:08:12who were living in the West Indies.

0:08:12 > 0:08:14We all had ambitions.

0:08:14 > 0:08:18We wanted to be something to prove that we'd evolved from being a slave.

0:08:19 > 0:08:24We wanted to show our emergence as a nation.

0:08:24 > 0:08:27The existing super-structure has handed out crumbs.

0:08:27 > 0:08:30We don't want any crumbs - we want the whole loaf now.

0:08:30 > 0:08:34This team is really, in fact, a mouthpiece

0:08:34 > 0:08:36for these transformations, reflecting the confidence

0:08:36 > 0:08:39of this independence generation.

0:08:39 > 0:08:42There's no going back. Cricket has to lead the way,

0:08:42 > 0:08:46and we have to go to the future as fast as we can.

0:08:46 > 0:08:50To see someone of your colour representing you at that level

0:08:50 > 0:08:53gave us folks upliftment.

0:08:53 > 0:08:58Those guys were heroes, people that epitomised the struggle.

0:08:58 > 0:09:00That was part of the struggle of the Caribbean.

0:09:00 > 0:09:04It started to take that side of consciousness, and I could

0:09:04 > 0:09:10identify the pain which our brothers and sisters would have been through.

0:09:10 > 0:09:13Their fight certainly was our fight too.

0:09:15 > 0:09:18Through the cricket, we would be able to carry a message

0:09:18 > 0:09:22to the white world to abort this racism

0:09:22 > 0:09:25by defeating it on the field of play,

0:09:25 > 0:09:30by truly making the cricket field a level playing field.

0:09:41 > 0:09:44# Cricket, lovely cricket

0:09:44 > 0:09:46# At Lord's where I saw it

0:09:46 > 0:09:50# Cricket, lovely cricket

0:09:50 > 0:09:51# At Lord's where I saw it

0:09:51 > 0:09:54# Rae has confidence

0:09:54 > 0:09:58# And he put in a strong defence

0:09:58 > 0:10:00# Him gave the crowd plenty fun

0:10:00 > 0:10:04# Second Test and West Indies won

0:10:04 > 0:10:06# With those two little pals of mine

0:10:06 > 0:10:09# Ramadhin and Valentine... #

0:10:09 > 0:10:12The West Indies are made up of different islands.

0:10:12 > 0:10:17All have different governments, different attitudes towards things.

0:10:17 > 0:10:20And those islands only come together

0:10:20 > 0:10:23under the banner of the West Indies Cricket Team.

0:10:23 > 0:10:26It's the only thing we do together.

0:10:26 > 0:10:29We are very different. If you travel the Caribbean,

0:10:29 > 0:10:31the accents are different, the food is different.

0:10:31 > 0:10:34You experience a variety of things

0:10:34 > 0:10:35in different islands.

0:10:35 > 0:10:39So our play, our cricket, spoke for us.

0:10:39 > 0:10:42Cricket was in. Anybody who grew up in the West Indies

0:10:42 > 0:10:44wanted to play cricket for the West Indies.

0:10:44 > 0:10:49You would walk miles and miles. You would find yourself at the beach.

0:10:49 > 0:10:52Some match was going on and you would join in.

0:10:52 > 0:10:56Guys would be batting from after school until the light faded.

0:10:56 > 0:10:59As soon as you get out, you were back in the water again

0:10:59 > 0:11:03or you would be looking around, trying to help a fishing boat.

0:11:03 > 0:11:05When you did catch something worth eating,

0:11:05 > 0:11:08you'd tend to light a fire and you ate it.

0:11:08 > 0:11:11It was all fun-loving stuff and - wow - have a great time.

0:11:11 > 0:11:13Friendship and bonding.

0:11:13 > 0:11:15More or less free.

0:11:16 > 0:11:20Every time you bowled, you were Lance Gibbs or Wes Hall or somebody.

0:11:20 > 0:11:23Every time you batted you were Seymour Nurse.

0:11:23 > 0:11:27Sir Frank Worrell, Sir Garry Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes

0:11:27 > 0:11:28and all the numerous names.

0:11:28 > 0:11:30These guys gave you hope.

0:11:30 > 0:11:35Pioneers, for sure. They were the inspiration.

0:11:35 > 0:11:38What still persisted up until 1960

0:11:38 > 0:11:42was that a white man would always be the captain of the West Indies team.

0:11:42 > 0:11:46It was extremely meaningful to Caribbean people to see

0:11:46 > 0:11:50a black man now as captain. It thrilled their heart.

0:11:53 > 0:11:57Excellent cricketers will always be in the annals of the world,

0:11:57 > 0:12:00but they were not winning combinations.

0:12:00 > 0:12:03There were sparks and flashes of genius

0:12:03 > 0:12:05followed by droughts of performances.

0:12:05 > 0:12:10There was a period when there were 21 test matches -

0:12:10 > 0:12:13none of them were West Indian victories.

0:12:13 > 0:12:16People would look at us as a happy-go-lucky bunch of people

0:12:16 > 0:12:20who just liked to... Well, the name they had at that time

0:12:20 > 0:12:22was Calypso Cricketers.

0:12:22 > 0:12:25You may say that it had some good connotations,

0:12:25 > 0:12:28because calypso is great music, but at the same time it had

0:12:28 > 0:12:31bad connotations in that it meant that, OK, you were

0:12:31 > 0:12:33all fun and frolic, but no real substance,

0:12:33 > 0:12:36entertaining the crowd and then losing.

0:12:36 > 0:12:40When they left Australia in 1961, they were given a motorcade

0:12:40 > 0:12:43that included a million people from Melbourne.

0:12:43 > 0:12:47For losing. In gentlemanly fashion.

0:12:47 > 0:12:51We were entertainers but we were not winners.

0:12:51 > 0:12:56They always felt at any time we could collapse and had no backbone.

0:12:56 > 0:12:59It was felt in the Caribbean. The feeling was,

0:12:59 > 0:13:02"Well, keep them the way they are, so they can just play cricket,

0:13:02 > 0:13:05"because maybe they can't do anything else."

0:13:05 > 0:13:08We all came from very different backgrounds

0:13:08 > 0:13:12and to be moulded into a unit was never going to be easy.

0:13:12 > 0:13:15You have to have someone who can keep all those people

0:13:15 > 0:13:18from different islands together, and bond them

0:13:18 > 0:13:21and get them pointing in the same direction.

0:13:23 > 0:13:28In the Caribbean we have a saying, that ten youngsters thrown together

0:13:28 > 0:13:33is not a team - it's a gang, and there is a fundamental difference.

0:13:33 > 0:13:37This latest generation needed a great captain.

0:13:37 > 0:13:40- COMMENTARY:- 'My word, are West Indies looking to him now.'

0:13:41 > 0:13:44Clive Lloyd was a very quiet man.

0:13:44 > 0:13:46Very sedate, very cool, very calm.

0:13:46 > 0:13:48A real thinker.

0:13:48 > 0:13:52The players looked up to him and respected him as their leader.

0:13:52 > 0:13:56And he was a leader. He wasn't just a captain. He was a leader.

0:13:56 > 0:13:59Clive was someone that you could approach.

0:13:59 > 0:14:02You thought, "This is someone I want to play for.

0:14:02 > 0:14:04"This is somebody I want to go out on the field with."

0:14:04 > 0:14:08He was very conscious of his own family background,

0:14:08 > 0:14:11losing his father at an early age.

0:14:11 > 0:14:13He was the breadwinner of the family.

0:14:13 > 0:14:18Clive was the father. He just led the way. He was just the man.

0:14:18 > 0:14:21Ten years older, to lead in some young boys, he would mentor them -

0:14:21 > 0:14:23he really led them on and off the field.

0:14:23 > 0:14:27He instilled that thought process -

0:14:27 > 0:14:30that, "Look - we are strong people. We came from a strong people.

0:14:30 > 0:14:32"We came from kings and queens,

0:14:32 > 0:14:36"and we will go back to that," which is strong.

0:14:36 > 0:14:40We are not here to make fun. We are here to win.

0:14:40 > 0:14:44I wanted to have a different team with different thinking.

0:14:44 > 0:14:50Shed all the stuff that we had before. We're now a team.

0:14:50 > 0:14:52A West Indian team, working together,

0:14:52 > 0:14:54so that the young people can understand

0:14:54 > 0:14:58that, hey, we can work for a better life and a better future.

0:14:58 > 0:15:01One people, one nation, one destiny.

0:15:03 > 0:15:071975 and we're at the start of our journey,

0:15:07 > 0:15:11full of youthful ambition and eager to uproot the prejudices of Babylon.

0:15:11 > 0:15:14Still we had everything to prove at the top level of the game,

0:15:14 > 0:15:16test cricket.

0:15:16 > 0:15:19A five-day contest, backed in against an opponent.

0:15:19 > 0:15:22Very soon, we'd be facing the toughest test of all,

0:15:22 > 0:15:26travelling to Australia to face the champions on their home soil.

0:15:26 > 0:15:28Shot one, take four.

0:15:31 > 0:15:33# Sweat all day in burning sun

0:15:33 > 0:15:36# Aussie pacemen not much fun

0:15:36 > 0:15:39# Batsman use Brut 33

0:15:39 > 0:15:42# He get 100 runs by tea... #

0:15:44 > 0:15:46- ARCHIVE:- 'Already there's an air of expectancy.

0:15:46 > 0:15:50'Their dashing Captain, Clive Lloyd, is quietly spoken but determined.'

0:15:50 > 0:15:52'Are you very confident of winning?'

0:15:52 > 0:15:54We want to win. There's no doubt about that.

0:15:54 > 0:15:58It has been billed as a world championship,

0:15:58 > 0:16:01so I'm hoping that we can give it our best.

0:16:01 > 0:16:05At the moment, the Australian side, to my mind, is the best in the world.

0:16:05 > 0:16:08I think that fast bowlers all through test history

0:16:08 > 0:16:11have been the difference between a good side and a great side.

0:16:11 > 0:16:13Thomson and Lillee are great bowlers.

0:16:23 > 0:16:26- ARCHIVE:- 'Jeff Thomson and Dennis Lillee

0:16:26 > 0:16:29'are the most talked-about cricketers in the world.

0:16:29 > 0:16:31'The underlying point is controversy.

0:16:31 > 0:16:35'Controversy about bouncers or bumpers, deliberate intimidation,

0:16:35 > 0:16:40'aiming to hit the batsmen and bowling bouncers at tailenders.'

0:16:44 > 0:16:47- COMMENTARY:- 'Splendid bowling performance, then,

0:16:47 > 0:16:50'from Jeff Thomson. He bowled really fast today,

0:16:50 > 0:16:52'as he has done throughout this match,

0:16:52 > 0:16:54'a great psychological boost for him

0:16:54 > 0:16:56'and the whole of the Australian side.'

0:16:56 > 0:16:57'Lillee has struck again.

0:16:57 > 0:17:00'Another great performance there by Lillee.'

0:17:00 > 0:17:04That cricket team decimated every other cricket team around the world.

0:17:04 > 0:17:08They beat everybody, at home and abroad. They nearly killed England.

0:17:08 > 0:17:10COMMENTARY: 'Thomson to Lloyd.

0:17:10 > 0:17:13'And hit badly there that time.'

0:17:13 > 0:17:16I remember the English literally running for cover

0:17:16 > 0:17:18and begging for mercy.

0:17:19 > 0:17:22Australia had outstanding fast bowlers.

0:17:22 > 0:17:24And when I say fast bowlers,

0:17:24 > 0:17:26I'm talking about people who really bowl fast.

0:17:26 > 0:17:29I'm not talking about people who just bowl 80mph, 81mph.

0:17:29 > 0:17:32Talking about people who bowl 90mph, 90-odd mph.

0:17:32 > 0:17:36Because that extra dimension is whether you can get hurt or not.

0:17:37 > 0:17:40- COMMENTARY:- 'And it's hit him on the head. A bad one.

0:17:40 > 0:17:41'The batsman is down.'

0:17:41 > 0:17:44You could get killed. It has happened. It's like a bullet.

0:17:44 > 0:17:47If there's something in front of it, you could be dead.

0:17:49 > 0:17:54Now, once you have the capability of hurting someone with that ball,

0:17:54 > 0:17:57that person is not thinking about how to play the ball.

0:17:57 > 0:18:00He's thinking about self-preservation.

0:18:00 > 0:18:03'I'm trying to scare him, trying to hurt him,'

0:18:03 > 0:18:06perhaps in the ribs or the leg or something like that,

0:18:06 > 0:18:08so that he at least knows you're around.

0:18:08 > 0:18:12Dennis Lee would stand in front of you and...

0:18:12 > 0:18:16He stands up, this enormous figure, and look you in the eye.

0:18:16 > 0:18:19He wanted that ball to cause me a great deal of harm.

0:18:19 > 0:18:23He wanted to inflict pain. He wanted to injure me.

0:18:23 > 0:18:27The one individual that you found just very difficult to play

0:18:27 > 0:18:28would be Jeff Thomson.

0:18:28 > 0:18:31He was ruthless, in my opinion.

0:18:31 > 0:18:33Always a danger. He was a danger man.

0:18:33 > 0:18:37- ARCHIVE:- 'Thomson's sport away from the test match arena

0:18:37 > 0:18:39'helps keep him fit for hurling down his thunderbolt.

0:18:39 > 0:18:41'It takes a lot of running

0:18:41 > 0:18:44'with a zest akin to collecting test scalps.'

0:18:44 > 0:18:47- What do you think about that? - He's a beauty, matey.

0:18:49 > 0:18:50He was a mean man.

0:18:53 > 0:18:56- COMMENTARY:- 'My word, it does look a picture today.

0:18:56 > 0:18:57'It's always a great moment.

0:18:57 > 0:19:00'A nerve-wracking one for some players,

0:19:00 > 0:19:02'an exciting one for others.'

0:19:03 > 0:19:06It is the test of all tests.

0:19:06 > 0:19:11That's why them call it the TEST. Test matches.

0:19:13 > 0:19:15To be out in the field for five days,

0:19:15 > 0:19:17you have to have the endurance.

0:19:17 > 0:19:21The race is not for the swift, but who can endure to the end.

0:19:22 > 0:19:25That's the test. That's the test of every player.

0:19:27 > 0:19:29A lot of young people were in that West Indies team.

0:19:29 > 0:19:33That was either their first tour or their second tour.

0:19:33 > 0:19:36We were green, we were young, we were inexperienced,

0:19:36 > 0:19:40thrust into international cricket, thrown in at the deep end.

0:19:40 > 0:19:44You went out and all you could hear, streaming in your ears, was...

0:19:44 > 0:19:46- CHANTING:- Lillee, Lillee

0:19:46 > 0:19:48Kill, kill, kill

0:19:48 > 0:19:50Lillee, Lillee

0:19:50 > 0:19:51Kill, kill, kill...

0:19:51 > 0:19:56You felt that...there can't be a lot of love going on here.

0:19:56 > 0:19:58It is in your face.

0:19:58 > 0:20:00It wasn't easy, walking out to face those guys,

0:20:00 > 0:20:03with the crowd almost on top of you.

0:20:03 > 0:20:06Out there, it was a war. Believe me, it was a war.

0:20:06 > 0:20:07And they didn't let up.

0:20:07 > 0:20:11They threw the kitchen sink, they threw everything at you.

0:20:11 > 0:20:13They let you know, "Well, we're in charge

0:20:13 > 0:20:15"You're not coming on our patch to do well."

0:20:15 > 0:20:17- COMMENTARY:- It was a skip fired out of a rifle.

0:20:17 > 0:20:21Lillee and Thomson, they bounced each and every one.

0:20:21 > 0:20:25People were ducking and falling on their backsides, trying to get away.

0:20:25 > 0:20:31A serious induction into fast bowling. That was terrifying.

0:20:31 > 0:20:33Absolutely terrifying.

0:20:33 > 0:20:36I remember Lillee bowling at Lance Gibbs and Lance,

0:20:36 > 0:20:38at the end of the day, went to him and said

0:20:38 > 0:20:40"I have a wife and kids. Be careful what you do."

0:20:40 > 0:20:44COMMENTARY: He's bowled with fire and direction.

0:20:44 > 0:20:48- And that has hit him in the face, I think.- Serious one, I think.

0:20:48 > 0:20:52- It got him on the jaw. - That went straight up.

0:20:52 > 0:20:58Injuries, broken fingers, broken shoulders, cracks on the head,

0:20:58 > 0:21:00and it was humiliating.

0:21:00 > 0:21:03It was like a military assault on West Indies cricket.

0:21:03 > 0:21:09'Bowled in, Lance cartwheeling back almost at once.'

0:21:09 > 0:21:14'Another bowl. That was a lovely piece of cricket by the Australians.

0:21:14 > 0:21:17'Oh, straightaway.'

0:21:20 > 0:21:25'Today... He's out. Jeff Thomson at his best. It's out.

0:21:27 > 0:21:30- 'Roberts is out.' - That was a nasty series.

0:21:30 > 0:21:35- Lots of confrontations on and off the field.- They knew. They knew.

0:21:35 > 0:21:39They were seasoned campaigners, and they knew when to turn the screws.

0:21:39 > 0:21:44Some of the audience has this way that if they couldn't get you out,

0:21:44 > 0:21:46they'd rather abuse you out.

0:21:46 > 0:21:49Things were said, and the colour of your skin came into it.

0:21:49 > 0:21:52When you're constantly being bombarded with comments

0:21:52 > 0:21:53and behaviour, well,

0:21:53 > 0:21:58I encountered some ignorance before, but this was very different.

0:21:58 > 0:22:01- Very, very different.- The crowd.

0:22:01 > 0:22:04People in the crowd did say things that shouldn't have been said.

0:22:04 > 0:22:06Things that weren't politically correct.

0:22:06 > 0:22:10People would tell you about your heritage or your background,

0:22:10 > 0:22:12or "go back to the trees you came from."

0:22:12 > 0:22:13"You black bastard."

0:22:13 > 0:22:17I get rather annoyed when you call me a black bastard, because I'm not.

0:22:19 > 0:22:22You'd stop and and see where the comment came from,

0:22:22 > 0:22:26and then they would laugh and so on, because to them, it's a big joke.

0:22:26 > 0:22:29It degraded me and downgraded me a great deal.

0:22:29 > 0:22:32I was naive when I went to Australia,

0:22:32 > 0:22:35and I thought test cricket was a gentleman's game.

0:22:35 > 0:22:40I lost it. I just could not believe that this was taking place.

0:22:40 > 0:22:42Michael just went and sat down and couldn't believe

0:22:42 > 0:22:44Tears were coming out of his eyes.

0:22:44 > 0:22:47He didn't know guys could play cricket like this, so hard.

0:22:47 > 0:22:51Yes, there was a lot of bickering, people starting to blame each other.

0:22:51 > 0:22:54Batsmen blaming bowlers. The bowlers blaming the batsmen.

0:22:54 > 0:22:58It was not a very happy dressing room, and it was not a happy time.

0:22:58 > 0:23:04'So there it is. Australia winning by seven wickets.'

0:23:04 > 0:23:05We got a drubbing.

0:23:05 > 0:23:08They beat us 5-1.

0:23:10 > 0:23:12When the West Indies were annihilated,

0:23:12 > 0:23:15that burned everyone in the West Indies badly.

0:23:15 > 0:23:18We felt there were tears coming. I saw people cry

0:23:18 > 0:23:23when the West Indies lose. The tears come down.

0:23:23 > 0:23:26Very disappointed, man.

0:23:26 > 0:23:33- Very, very disappointed.- We want to know if we can come back up, when.

0:23:33 > 0:23:36People didn't feel the West Indies players had the fight in them.

0:23:36 > 0:23:41This calypso cricket stigma stuck with us.

0:23:41 > 0:23:45We weren't willing to go there and fight to the end. We just gave up.

0:23:45 > 0:23:47When that team returned to the Caribbean,

0:23:47 > 0:23:49it was like soldiers coming home from war.

0:23:49 > 0:23:52They realised that everything was at stake,

0:23:52 > 0:23:56and Clive Lloyd knew that West Indian cricket was at the crossroads.

0:23:56 > 0:24:00A lot of soul-searching went on during that time.

0:24:00 > 0:24:04Clive as a young captain was under pressure.

0:24:04 > 0:24:06He became very depressed,

0:24:06 > 0:24:10even questioned his own right to be the captain.

0:24:13 > 0:24:19They say after humiliation is riches, power,

0:24:19 > 0:24:23might and blessing eternally.

0:24:23 > 0:24:25For ever. Go away.

0:24:27 > 0:24:31Fight! Fight! It's a game.

0:24:32 > 0:24:36You have to put your heart into playing and keep it up.

0:24:36 > 0:24:38Don't drop down. Fight.

0:24:38 > 0:24:41# Yes! Launch an attack We launch an attack now

0:24:41 > 0:24:44# Launch an attack, oh, Mick, we launch an attack... #

0:24:44 > 0:24:48I can remember, Clive said "Never again.

0:24:48 > 0:24:51"If we can find some fast bowlers who are just as quick as they are

0:24:51 > 0:24:55"or even quicker, see how well they handle it."

0:24:55 > 0:24:58Clive Lloyd took a very blunt decision.

0:24:58 > 0:25:00"We can also play your game.

0:25:00 > 0:25:04"We can generate a bowling machinery that will obliterate,

0:25:04 > 0:25:07"that can rub you into the ground and decimate."

0:25:08 > 0:25:12# And he bowled, and it's a four # And he bowled, and it's a six, yes!

0:25:12 > 0:25:15So he needed very fast bowlers.

0:25:15 > 0:25:17And he went through the Caribbean,

0:25:17 > 0:25:22looking for players to fit into his machine.

0:25:22 > 0:25:25He had already picked Michael Holding and saw the talent

0:25:25 > 0:25:27and the brilliance of this young man.

0:25:27 > 0:25:30And people questioned Clive Lloyd's knowledge.

0:25:30 > 0:25:34And they said, "Clive, you're bringing Michael Holding in at 17?"

0:25:34 > 0:25:38Clive said, "So what? He's a youth, but I like his potential."

0:25:38 > 0:25:40The captain was so astute.

0:25:40 > 0:25:44Such a cricket brain comes once in a lifetime.

0:25:44 > 0:25:49We had three, Wayne Daniel, Holding and Roberts.

0:25:49 > 0:25:53Fast, furious, aggressive, and really could dismiss you.

0:25:53 > 0:25:57It was very skilfully done. It was a superb construction.

0:25:57 > 0:26:04# This is cricket! Lovely cricket, yes! Cricket, lovely cricket

0:26:04 > 0:26:09# I say, people, are you ready? Blow! Oh, Lord! #

0:26:21 > 0:26:25There has always been a black fast bowler.

0:26:25 > 0:26:29The young strapped-in box releasing a thunderbolt at you.

0:26:29 > 0:26:32It can become something of a firing line.

0:26:32 > 0:26:35When you look at a Michael Holding running in to bowl,

0:26:35 > 0:26:37what you were looking at

0:26:37 > 0:26:41is an African individual with African rhythm.

0:26:42 > 0:26:47Yeah, that rhythm. One in a million. Born to bowl a cricket ball.

0:26:47 > 0:26:51Michael, in that stride, would put fear into any particular batsman.

0:26:52 > 0:26:57I was just a young man running in, bowling fast, attracting attention.

0:26:57 > 0:27:00"Look out for this guy, he's coming."

0:27:00 > 0:27:04And he was a hard-nosed individual on the team,

0:27:04 > 0:27:07a guy that you were taking the bat anywhere.

0:27:07 > 0:27:11I am a warrior. I take fast bowling more seriously than anything else.

0:27:11 > 0:27:15I'd say Andy was misunderstood because he hardly ever smiled

0:27:15 > 0:27:18and people thought he was just a grumpy, miserable guy.

0:27:18 > 0:27:24Never show emotions, and nobody knew what to expect. That was me.

0:27:24 > 0:27:26And it taught me a lot about fast bowling.

0:27:26 > 0:27:30- Taught me a lot about cricket. - That guy could jump easy.

0:27:30 > 0:27:31He knew how to catch a fish.

0:27:31 > 0:27:34And they used to have two different bounces.

0:27:34 > 0:27:37The first one, the batsman would sometimes hook it away,

0:27:37 > 0:27:40get a boundary. The second one, with the same action,

0:27:40 > 0:27:42same effort, would be a great deal quicker

0:27:42 > 0:27:45and of course, the batsman would feel some pain.

0:27:45 > 0:27:48He could hurt you, seriously hurt you.

0:27:48 > 0:27:52And he was the original leader of that pace attack.

0:27:56 > 0:28:00Not long after Australia, we returned home to play India.

0:28:00 > 0:28:02You were eager to banish all humiliation

0:28:02 > 0:28:06and show we had the character to win.

0:28:06 > 0:28:07For Clive, it was the opportunity

0:28:07 > 0:28:10to start loading the newly formed pace attack.

0:28:10 > 0:28:15The pressure was on, and it was to reach boiling point in Kingston.

0:28:16 > 0:28:21The whole of Jamaica came to see. We were packed like a sardine.

0:28:22 > 0:28:27There was the feeling that now we were unleashing this firing power.

0:28:29 > 0:28:33"Let's play the type of cricket that they don't associate us with."

0:28:33 > 0:28:38Our guys wanted to show that they learned something from Australia.

0:28:39 > 0:28:43How would the Indians withstand our head-on onslaught?

0:28:44 > 0:28:47My heart started beating, beating hard.

0:28:49 > 0:28:52And they see him running and then him deliver the ball, right?

0:28:58 > 0:29:00We were making India really buckle.

0:29:00 > 0:29:05The Indian team was like the walking wounded.

0:29:05 > 0:29:08All of them are broke.

0:29:08 > 0:29:11Everybody head get lick. You understand?

0:29:13 > 0:29:16The Indians thought we were overdoing the fast bowling

0:29:16 > 0:29:19and surrendered to the West Indies

0:29:19 > 0:29:21almost as a show of protest.

0:29:23 > 0:29:27It takes a lot of guts to face fast bowlers.

0:29:27 > 0:29:31Most people who don't expect to get hit complain.

0:29:31 > 0:29:34Every time I go out to bat, I expect to get my share.

0:29:35 > 0:29:39Australia, '75, '76, we didn't complain.

0:29:40 > 0:29:45If you can't take the heat and if you can't take the pace, get out.

0:29:45 > 0:29:49I believe that unfortunately, the Indians were there to receive

0:29:49 > 0:29:52the brunt of the revised strategy

0:29:52 > 0:29:55and the desperation to restore pride.

0:29:56 > 0:30:01What you saw then was a team that had its mind made up.

0:30:01 > 0:30:04Do or die. Ask no quarter and give none.

0:30:04 > 0:30:06That theory was reinforced

0:30:06 > 0:30:10in Clive's mind because of the resource that we'd got,

0:30:10 > 0:30:14and I think then people realised, "Oh, OK, it can work.

0:30:14 > 0:30:15"And it has worked."

0:30:19 > 0:30:24Beating India was the first sign we had the firepower to win.

0:30:24 > 0:30:27It was a success but it was still early days for the team.

0:30:28 > 0:30:31Soon after we had to face our oldest enemy

0:30:31 > 0:30:33in the fiercest grudge match of all.

0:30:33 > 0:30:36It was 1976 and we boarded the plane to England.

0:30:38 > 0:30:42Could we beat our former masters at the game they created?

0:30:44 > 0:30:49This driving ambition was always towards England specifically,

0:30:49 > 0:30:53seeing cricket as the vehicle through which they were expressing

0:30:53 > 0:30:56rebellion against this British colonising power.

0:30:56 > 0:31:00We were playing against our old masters.

0:31:00 > 0:31:04And therefore we had to up our game to be able to beat them.

0:31:04 > 0:31:07We wanted to show the Englishmen,

0:31:07 > 0:31:10"You brought the game to us and now we are better than you."

0:31:12 > 0:31:16The English, as you know, do adore Test match cricket.

0:31:16 > 0:31:19England would rather lose a battleship than a Test match!

0:31:19 > 0:31:23We're hearing that, you know, how serious it is.

0:31:23 > 0:31:30Beating England was more satisfying to me than anybody else,

0:31:30 > 0:31:34because I believed that we struggled more in England

0:31:34 > 0:31:36than anywhere else in the world.

0:31:36 > 0:31:39As usual in those times,

0:31:39 > 0:31:42my family had moved to England in the hope of a better life.

0:31:44 > 0:31:47A pathetic sight.

0:31:47 > 0:31:50Already their coming has caused a national controversy.

0:31:50 > 0:31:54What will they find in the land they regard as an El Dorado?

0:31:56 > 0:32:00At 14, having to leave the Caribbean was very difficult.

0:32:00 > 0:32:04Arriving in England, thrust into an environment you know nothing about,

0:32:04 > 0:32:06being confronted with a variety of things.

0:32:06 > 0:32:10Well, of course, there are far too many immigrants in this country.

0:32:10 > 0:32:15We do not have sufficient houses, jobs and schools for our own people.

0:32:15 > 0:32:16Unless something's done quick,

0:32:16 > 0:32:19that prejudice is going to be sheer bloody hatred.

0:32:19 > 0:32:24There was a vacancy for a flat and on the stairs they were saying,

0:32:24 > 0:32:26"All applicants accepted.

0:32:26 > 0:32:28"No Irish or blacks."

0:32:29 > 0:32:33During the early '70s, I didn't have an understanding

0:32:33 > 0:32:36of what racism was all about.

0:32:36 > 0:32:40I had no experience of it whatsoever. I was called a wog.

0:32:40 > 0:32:42I said, "What the hell's that?"

0:32:42 > 0:32:43When guys got angry,

0:32:43 > 0:32:47the things you would hear, "You black this, you black that."

0:32:47 > 0:32:49You know, at times you felt, well, you know,

0:32:49 > 0:32:53"I think I would like to be back in the Caribbean rather than be here."

0:32:53 > 0:32:57My anger came out in the way I played.

0:32:57 > 0:33:01I felt that to forcefully go at what I was doing, to attack,

0:33:01 > 0:33:04perhaps was a way of letting out that anger.

0:33:04 > 0:33:07It wouldn't be right to do it on another human being,

0:33:07 > 0:33:09although you felt like it at times,

0:33:09 > 0:33:11but I am going to sure take it out on 5 1/2 ounces.

0:33:11 > 0:33:15So... You just take it out on the ball.

0:33:15 > 0:33:19Every little bit of power you can imagine going into that stroke.

0:33:19 > 0:33:23My bat could have been my soul at that time,

0:33:23 > 0:33:26and it's people who you wanted to put it to.

0:33:26 > 0:33:31Everyone wanted to give the West Indian people living in England

0:33:31 > 0:33:32something to hold on to.

0:33:32 > 0:33:37People who were looking up to you, who were willing you on for support.

0:33:37 > 0:33:40If the West Indies lose, there are even afraid to go to work,

0:33:40 > 0:33:43because they know that their workmates will shout abuse,

0:33:43 > 0:33:45and they can't live it down.

0:33:45 > 0:33:49All they had to boast about was the success of the West Indies team.

0:33:49 > 0:33:53It was a step beyond the sport, where there is a whole other thing

0:33:53 > 0:33:56that needed defending, rather than the cricket ball itself.

0:33:59 > 0:34:01People are building the West Indians up.

0:34:01 > 0:34:04I'm not quite sure they're as good as everyone thinks they are.

0:34:04 > 0:34:07If they're down, they grovel. And I intend,

0:34:07 > 0:34:10with the help of Closey and a few others, to make them grovel.

0:34:10 > 0:34:11Grovel.

0:34:11 > 0:34:14- They grovel.- Grovel. - To make them grovel.

0:34:14 > 0:34:16That wasn't a clever thing to say.

0:34:16 > 0:34:19The timing was very, very wrong,

0:34:19 > 0:34:23especially given the situation in South Africa with apartheid.

0:34:23 > 0:34:26Here was this guy, you know, apartheid still going strong,

0:34:26 > 0:34:29and he's going to make these black guys grovel.

0:34:31 > 0:34:36The appetite was there immediately. Clive Lloyd said,

0:34:36 > 0:34:38"Guys, we don't need to say much.

0:34:38 > 0:34:41"Our man on the television has said it all for us.

0:34:41 > 0:34:44"We know what we've got to do."

0:34:44 > 0:34:46We took that seriously.

0:34:46 > 0:34:49Very, very seriously took it.

0:34:49 > 0:34:53I've not seen our guys so focused.

0:34:53 > 0:34:58That comment alone was sufficient to set the tone for the whole series.

0:34:59 > 0:35:03The bowlers, they really turned on the heat.

0:35:03 > 0:35:05He made the others suffer for what he said.

0:35:13 > 0:35:16'In typical Closey style, he hasn't rubbed it.'

0:35:21 > 0:35:25'Oh, my word, Brian Close did well to avoid a nasty accident there.

0:35:25 > 0:35:28'It was really fired in extremely quickly.

0:35:28 > 0:35:31'Only at the last possible minute did he manage to get that head

0:35:31 > 0:35:34'out of the way.'

0:35:34 > 0:35:36'And that's hurt him.

0:35:36 > 0:35:39'That's somewhere around about the mark where earlier,

0:35:39 > 0:35:44'he let one bounce off him. That really must have stung him.

0:35:44 > 0:35:50'Close trying to take this pace attack, but extremely difficult.

0:35:50 > 0:35:54'Enough is enough. He's really overdone the short pitches.'

0:35:54 > 0:35:56'Brian Close is going to be a mass of bruises

0:35:56 > 0:36:00'when he gets back into the haven of the pavilion.'

0:36:00 > 0:36:02'A new row has erupted over dangerous bowling.'

0:36:02 > 0:36:05A former chairman of the Cricket Society warned

0:36:05 > 0:36:08that unless rules are tightened,

0:36:08 > 0:36:12ten cricketers will die and 40 more will suffer brain injury

0:36:12 > 0:36:15through being hit by a ball this summer.

0:36:15 > 0:36:19The world more or less portrayed the West Indian team as brutal.

0:36:19 > 0:36:22Bringing the game into disrepute.

0:36:22 > 0:36:24But the adrenaline that's going to be pumping,

0:36:24 > 0:36:28the tension that would have mounted from that ill-fated comment,

0:36:28 > 0:36:31you're going to release that ball at a serious pace.

0:36:31 > 0:36:35There were umpires that, in the laws of the game,

0:36:35 > 0:36:38were allowed to act to protect people.

0:36:38 > 0:36:43You don't want to hurt someone. Inevitably, a batsman will get hurt

0:36:43 > 0:36:45and you will regret that.

0:36:45 > 0:36:50I always feel when I hit a batsman, the sympathy's in here.

0:36:50 > 0:36:55You may not see it, and I can't show the batsman that,

0:36:55 > 0:36:57but it's just that I have a job to do.

0:36:57 > 0:36:58We're not going to be

0:36:58 > 0:37:02these happy-go-lucky cricketers that are only here to entertain.

0:37:02 > 0:37:05We're going to entertain by this high skill and whatever it takes,

0:37:05 > 0:37:08within the rules of the game, we're going to do it.

0:37:08 > 0:37:11Oh, and that's a fine ball. Holding strikes again.

0:37:13 > 0:37:17We were made to feel at home away from home.

0:37:17 > 0:37:20The crowd supported us because of the way we played.

0:37:20 > 0:37:23What a magnificent catch that was.

0:37:23 > 0:37:28People turned up in their droves, and one section of the ground

0:37:28 > 0:37:31was just all West Indians, and having a ball.

0:37:33 > 0:37:35As good a shot as you will ever see.

0:37:40 > 0:37:42Everyone said it was

0:37:42 > 0:37:46the hottest summer in England for donkeys' years.

0:37:46 > 0:37:48Well, I think the heat was felt

0:37:48 > 0:37:50by the English, not by the West Indians.

0:37:51 > 0:37:54'That's really good bowling from Andy Roberts.'

0:37:54 > 0:37:58Spectators could hardly have had better entertainment.

0:37:58 > 0:38:02The crowd, more so than anyone else, took a turn at Tony for what he said.

0:38:04 > 0:38:07They reminded him and they kept on repeating it,

0:38:07 > 0:38:09so I think he got the message.

0:38:12 > 0:38:15Whenever he came in to bat, he would have it.

0:38:15 > 0:38:19If they were tired, guys would find the strength just to make sure.

0:38:19 > 0:38:22And it wasn't getting him out caught in the slips,

0:38:22 > 0:38:24it was like just knocking his spokes over.

0:38:27 > 0:38:31Bang. Wow, those were the special moments.

0:38:31 > 0:38:35And a very disappointed, disenchanted Tony Greig there.

0:38:35 > 0:38:39You can forgive, but you never, ever forget.

0:38:47 > 0:38:51Michael Holding and myself had great summers in '76.

0:38:51 > 0:38:56Viv Richards had a great summer in '76.

0:38:56 > 0:39:01So it was bat versus ball in '76.

0:39:06 > 0:39:10Every test match that Viv played in, he looked invincible.

0:39:10 > 0:39:14A terrific shot. This really master batsman.

0:39:14 > 0:39:17The master blaster has arrived.

0:39:17 > 0:39:22There was so much talk about intimidatory bowling.

0:39:22 > 0:39:26We had a batsman who didn't mind if you bowled six bouncers at him.

0:39:26 > 0:39:30He would not have been scared. He came and stood his own, you know?

0:39:30 > 0:39:34"Take that in your arse, man. Bat, man.

0:39:34 > 0:39:37"You have a bat in your hand, defend yourself," that sort of attitude.

0:39:37 > 0:39:39Some said I had a swagger.

0:39:39 > 0:39:41It was a sign of saying, "I'm so confident here."

0:39:41 > 0:39:46With some chewing gum in mouth, I backed myself every time.

0:39:47 > 0:39:51'What a shot. It's no use bowling this fella.'

0:39:51 > 0:39:54He bat against the fastest bowlers and took everyone apart.

0:39:54 > 0:39:59I could knock them back as well. You'd better get out of the way.

0:39:59 > 0:40:01The bowler threw it at Vivian Richards -

0:40:01 > 0:40:03instead, Vivian Richards threw at the bowler!

0:40:03 > 0:40:08If you wasn't confrontational, I felt that you were kipping.

0:40:10 > 0:40:12And if you wasn't in my face,

0:40:12 > 0:40:14you will see the best of Vivian Richards.

0:40:16 > 0:40:19# Viv is the name

0:40:19 > 0:40:21# Cricket is the game

0:40:21 > 0:40:26# But I don't know how he could play cricket so

0:40:26 > 0:40:31# But his batting, bowling, fielding, catching is breathtaking

0:40:31 > 0:40:36# Sometimes I does wonder if he's the next Sobers in the making

0:40:37 > 0:40:42# That man Richards could really bat

0:40:42 > 0:40:47# It's something to see him on the attack

0:40:47 > 0:40:51# Plundering bowlers again and again

0:40:51 > 0:40:56# It's remarkable how he does dictate the game

0:40:57 > 0:41:00# No bowler holds a terror

0:41:00 > 0:41:02# For Vivian Richards

0:41:02 > 0:41:05# Not Thompson or Lillee

0:41:05 > 0:41:08# Not Bedi nor Chandrasekhar Mm-mm.

0:41:08 > 0:41:13# A perfect co-ordination of BODY AND MIND!

0:41:13 > 0:41:17# That, brother, is really dynamite I tell you

0:41:17 > 0:41:20# Pace or spin

0:41:20 > 0:41:22# He ain't give a France what you bowling him

0:41:22 > 0:41:23# Fast or slowly

0:41:23 > 0:41:27# You're going back to the boundary. #

0:41:27 > 0:41:29Vivy Richards, a great man.

0:41:29 > 0:41:31Wonderful.

0:41:38 > 0:41:42We'd come a long way in the space of one year, from the lows of Australia

0:41:42 > 0:41:44to victory against our colonial masters.

0:41:44 > 0:41:49Under Clive Lloyd, this youthful team were becoming mature men.

0:41:49 > 0:41:53It was a surprise to others and perhaps even ourselves.

0:41:53 > 0:41:56Now the big question was whether we could continue our success

0:41:56 > 0:41:59and beat the other Test nations of the world.

0:41:59 > 0:42:01That question would have to wait.

0:42:01 > 0:42:05There was a fight against Babylon on our very own doorstep,

0:42:05 > 0:42:08a fight for equal rights and rewards

0:42:08 > 0:42:10as true professionals of the game.

0:42:11 > 0:42:14For the success which we had then,

0:42:14 > 0:42:17there should have been more benefits coming to that team.

0:42:17 > 0:42:21The powers of that team should be used as a negotiating tool.

0:42:23 > 0:42:27There were issues in getting to the same level of payment

0:42:27 > 0:42:28as the same players

0:42:28 > 0:42:32playing for England and Australia against the West Indies.

0:42:32 > 0:42:34What sort of money do the West Indian team get paid?

0:42:34 > 0:42:37I don't know how much exactly they're getting, but certainly

0:42:37 > 0:42:41it wouldn't be anything in comparison to the amount of money

0:42:41 > 0:42:42that comes through the gate.

0:42:42 > 0:42:46Almost all of the cricket boards were headed by Caucasians, whites.

0:42:46 > 0:42:48And that might have been perceived as

0:42:48 > 0:42:52trying to keep the black man down, if you will.

0:42:52 > 0:42:54I don't think it has race to do with it at all.

0:42:54 > 0:42:57Power is a numbing thing, it's like a drug.

0:42:57 > 0:43:00As players, we were very upset

0:43:00 > 0:43:03that the West Indies Cricket board had short-sold us.

0:43:05 > 0:43:07After sport, you have to live.

0:43:07 > 0:43:11What they were paying to play cricket could not make me live.

0:43:13 > 0:43:17We were exploited in such a degree that we were a laughing stock.

0:43:17 > 0:43:20We weren't some people who cheat and steal.

0:43:20 > 0:43:24But then suddenly, the possibility presented itself

0:43:24 > 0:43:26to challenge the establishment.

0:43:26 > 0:43:28It was called World Series Cricket.

0:43:33 > 0:43:37'A revolutionary new development has come onto the scene,'

0:43:37 > 0:43:39organised not by the traditional authorities,

0:43:39 > 0:43:42but by an independent Australian businessman,

0:43:42 > 0:43:44Kerry Packer.

0:43:44 > 0:43:47The result has been official apoplexy.

0:43:47 > 0:43:52I fail to see how his business-type piracy is welcome to our cricket.

0:43:53 > 0:43:57They are the lowest-paid team sport, practically, in the world

0:43:57 > 0:44:01and they are entitled to the reward that their skills demand.

0:44:01 > 0:44:04So here's a man like Kerry Packer coming and saying, "Look, guys,

0:44:04 > 0:44:08"we want to pay you what you're worth."

0:44:08 > 0:44:11Kerry decides he's going to get the best Western cricketers,

0:44:11 > 0:44:12the best Australian cricketers

0:44:12 > 0:44:15and the best of the rest of the world to play

0:44:15 > 0:44:17a three-way tournament in Australia.

0:44:17 > 0:44:20The win money was 30,000.

0:44:20 > 0:44:23It was so far superior to what we were accustomed to,

0:44:23 > 0:44:26it felt like VIP. And I said,

0:44:26 > 0:44:29"Well, for this sort of money I can think about playing cricket.

0:44:29 > 0:44:31"Show me where to sign."

0:44:32 > 0:44:35The proverbial whatever-it-is hit the fan.

0:44:36 > 0:44:41The West Indies Cricket board saw us as rebel players.

0:44:41 > 0:44:44We were all banned from playing for the West Indies.

0:44:44 > 0:44:46We had no cricket to come back to.

0:44:46 > 0:44:49We felt like outcasts.

0:44:49 > 0:44:51We were now on our own. We even thought at one point

0:44:51 > 0:44:54that we may never ever play for the West Indies again

0:44:54 > 0:44:56and we just did not feel good about that.

0:44:56 > 0:44:59What would have happened to us? What would become us?

0:45:02 > 0:45:05'After all the publicity, all the uproar, the haggling,

0:45:05 > 0:45:07'the start of the Packer series was a fizzer.'

0:45:07 > 0:45:12# Money in my pocket but I just can't get no love... #

0:45:12 > 0:45:16'The players took to the field in front of only 500 spectators,

0:45:16 > 0:45:18'leaving the stadium all but deserted.'

0:45:18 > 0:45:21Kerry realised that

0:45:21 > 0:45:24the success of World Series

0:45:24 > 0:45:27depended heavily on the success of West Indies.

0:45:27 > 0:45:29There was one game that we played

0:45:29 > 0:45:32and we got bowled out cheaply.

0:45:32 > 0:45:37He came into the changing room and put a tongue-lashing on us.

0:45:37 > 0:45:40"Gentlemen, you are wasting my time.

0:45:40 > 0:45:42"I could get rid of you immediately.

0:45:42 > 0:45:44"Qantas 001 leaves here every afternoon

0:45:44 > 0:45:46"and some of you could be on it.

0:45:46 > 0:45:48"Unless you pick up your game,

0:45:48 > 0:45:51"we are going to have to send some of you home."

0:45:51 > 0:45:54Kerry Packer demanded professionalism.

0:45:54 > 0:45:57He demanded a professional outlook,

0:45:57 > 0:46:01on not just your cricket but on life, and we let him down.

0:46:01 > 0:46:04And everything change from that day.

0:46:08 > 0:46:12Here we have a bunch of guys now who realise that there's no tomorrow,

0:46:12 > 0:46:15there's only today, and nobody wanted to give up.

0:46:15 > 0:46:19We then bonded together because that's all we had.

0:46:19 > 0:46:21We had each other.

0:46:21 > 0:46:25That family feeling, that ultimate one-for-all, all-for-one, pervaded.

0:46:25 > 0:46:28# I'm gonna put on a iron shirt

0:46:28 > 0:46:30# Put on a iron shirt... #

0:46:30 > 0:46:33Kerry Packer assigned Dennis Waight to the West Indies team

0:46:33 > 0:46:35as our physiotherapist/trainer.

0:46:35 > 0:46:37And he went to Clive Lloyd and said,

0:46:37 > 0:46:40"Skipper, I do not think that this team is fit enough."

0:46:40 > 0:46:43And that is when we started to train.

0:46:44 > 0:46:46Dennis was a fit, strong man.

0:46:46 > 0:46:49He would run to the ground from the hotel while we took the bus.

0:46:49 > 0:46:53He pushed us to the limit, I mean, madness.

0:46:55 > 0:46:56We were fit at all times.

0:46:56 > 0:46:59If we weren't fit, we were glad to get fit.

0:47:01 > 0:47:02'Quick single.

0:47:02 > 0:47:06'Having to hurry. And he's in the stops, he's gone!'

0:47:07 > 0:47:11This team became the fittest Test team the world had seen,

0:47:11 > 0:47:15coming against a tradition of pot-bellied unfit cricketers.

0:47:15 > 0:47:19The fitness led to superb displays of catches,

0:47:19 > 0:47:22incredible endurance,

0:47:22 > 0:47:23there was a spectacle.

0:47:26 > 0:47:30'Oh! No comment needed.'

0:47:30 > 0:47:35It was highly intense cricket, the hardest cricket I've ever played.

0:47:35 > 0:47:40Every team had at least five genuine fast bowlers, every team.

0:47:41 > 0:47:44Every day you wake up,

0:47:44 > 0:47:48you know that the cricket is going to be harder than the day before.

0:47:49 > 0:47:52That whole tournament itself had to change your whole psyche

0:47:52 > 0:47:56to getting fitter, winner takes all,

0:47:56 > 0:47:59being in that zone to be as mean as anything else.

0:47:59 > 0:48:01'Superb shot by Richards. Hit mightily hard.'

0:48:01 > 0:48:03There were a lot of things introduced.

0:48:03 > 0:48:06Coloured clothing. West Indies were in pink.

0:48:06 > 0:48:09The press had a field day when they saw our uniforms.

0:48:09 > 0:48:12"Pretty In Pink" and they went

0:48:12 > 0:48:14so far as saying, "The Poofters In Pink"

0:48:14 > 0:48:17So we had to show them that we were not that way disposed.

0:48:19 > 0:48:22- Shot!- From then, to the end of World Series Cricket,

0:48:22 > 0:48:23we did not lose a game.

0:48:23 > 0:48:24Here comes the stampede!

0:48:24 > 0:48:29And the Australians have always suggested that Kerry Packer

0:48:29 > 0:48:32ought not to have come in to make that speech to the West Indies.

0:48:40 > 0:48:43Even though you were playing as well as you think you are,

0:48:43 > 0:48:46and winning as much as you are,

0:48:46 > 0:48:48there was still something very much missing.

0:48:50 > 0:48:53COMMENTATOR: The West Indies crowd goes absolutely mad!

0:48:53 > 0:48:54Absolutely mad!

0:48:54 > 0:48:57One thing I find with West Indian supporters

0:48:57 > 0:49:01is that they're loyal, love to see West Indies win,

0:49:01 > 0:49:03they love to see good cricket.

0:49:03 > 0:49:08But one of the things they do not like is to see administrators

0:49:08 > 0:49:10lie to them.

0:49:10 > 0:49:13The supporters wanted to know why we were still banned.

0:49:13 > 0:49:16They wanted their best players back.

0:49:16 > 0:49:19Our continued fight against the Board was the same fight

0:49:19 > 0:49:22our people faced against our politicians.

0:49:22 > 0:49:26Despite independence, inept leaders still robbed us of wealth

0:49:26 > 0:49:29and benefits - dividing the islands for their own ends.

0:49:29 > 0:49:31In Clive's team,

0:49:31 > 0:49:34the people saw a model for co-operation and unity.

0:49:34 > 0:49:37Our sympathies were shared and we united as one.

0:49:37 > 0:49:43We were the heroes of the West Indian public, because we were standing up

0:49:43 > 0:49:45to our establishment Board.

0:49:45 > 0:49:49More and more people recognised that the strength

0:49:49 > 0:49:51was in getting together.

0:49:51 > 0:49:55What our politicians could not achieve, we did.

0:49:55 > 0:49:58When we were playing and we got on that field,

0:49:58 > 0:50:02we put aside all the differences and issues which the islands had -

0:50:02 > 0:50:06uniting that region together, where, collectively, everyone could

0:50:06 > 0:50:07speak as a unit.

0:50:07 > 0:50:11The public were all unanimous

0:50:11 > 0:50:13in calling for boycotts of West Indian games.

0:50:13 > 0:50:19It did so much for Clive to recognise that he was accepted as the leader,

0:50:19 > 0:50:23not just within the team, but throughout the Caribbean.

0:50:23 > 0:50:24The timing was right

0:50:24 > 0:50:28and the West Indian Cricket Board's hands were tied.

0:50:28 > 0:50:29They had to bring us back.

0:50:29 > 0:50:33We came together and stuck together.

0:50:33 > 0:50:37Clive returned as the undisputed leader of our cricket.

0:50:37 > 0:50:41No longer would politics divide our people and we would all share

0:50:41 > 0:50:43in the fruits of the West Indies' success.

0:50:45 > 0:50:50And that same nucleus, which was a real family who really gelled,

0:50:50 > 0:50:53came back into traditional cricket and it felt as if, yes, we had

0:50:53 > 0:50:55had really achieved something.

0:50:55 > 0:50:57We were a much better team,

0:50:57 > 0:51:02fitter team and that is what turned us into professionals.

0:51:02 > 0:51:05From then, I never thought we could lose a game.

0:51:13 > 0:51:15Joel loved his cricket. Joel Garner and I

0:51:15 > 0:51:17forced our way into the team

0:51:17 > 0:51:19and the bowling changed for West Indies.

0:51:19 > 0:51:23The media were very interested because, for the first time ever,

0:51:23 > 0:51:28you had four fast bowlers who could all bowl at over 90mph.

0:51:28 > 0:51:34Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft. Ha-ha!

0:51:34 > 0:51:36Colin Croft.

0:51:36 > 0:51:40We were called "the four horsemen of the Apocalypse".

0:51:40 > 0:51:42We were called terrorists, dangerous, murderers,

0:51:42 > 0:51:44all sorts of things.

0:51:44 > 0:51:48These guys were physically intimidating.

0:51:48 > 0:51:50Joel Garner, at six foot eight.

0:51:50 > 0:51:54And he was always coming either at your toes or up at your neck.

0:51:54 > 0:51:55Hit him.

0:51:55 > 0:51:59That is the enemy out there, those fellows wearing pads, with a bat.

0:51:59 > 0:52:02It was my intention to make life for them very uncomfortable.

0:52:04 > 0:52:08Colin Croft, him have an action you can't understand.

0:52:08 > 0:52:10He's a menace to society!

0:52:10 > 0:52:12I was scary. I know that.

0:52:12 > 0:52:16You knock a guy down with a bouncer and you smile and you laugh.

0:52:16 > 0:52:18"I am here, get out of my way."

0:52:18 > 0:52:22We ask, "Croffy, suppose your mother was at the other end batting?"

0:52:22 > 0:52:26He says, "Boy, if my mother was at the other end, she's a target."

0:52:28 > 0:52:30Andy was a hit man, and labelled "The Hit Man",

0:52:30 > 0:52:33just because he was hitting people.

0:52:33 > 0:52:35I hear people say that I was The Hit Man.

0:52:35 > 0:52:38I didn't go out to try to hit people.

0:52:38 > 0:52:40It's just that a lot of people get hit.

0:52:40 > 0:52:41Colin Cowdrey,

0:52:41 > 0:52:44Sadiq Mohammad, Majid Khan -

0:52:44 > 0:52:47all depressed fractures of the cheekbone.

0:52:47 > 0:52:48And he was so feared.

0:52:48 > 0:52:51They all had their different styles,

0:52:51 > 0:52:53but Michael was called "Whispering Death".

0:52:53 > 0:52:55The umpires wouldn't hear me coming.

0:52:55 > 0:53:00They had to keep on looking behind, to see if I was actually running in.

0:53:00 > 0:53:02And I suppose the "Death" came from the pace at which I bowled,

0:53:02 > 0:53:04that it could create death.

0:53:06 > 0:53:09The team, by 1979, was stronger - much, much stronger.

0:53:09 > 0:53:13We were on top of our game, all of us.

0:53:13 > 0:53:15Superb. Premium.

0:53:15 > 0:53:18That's professional sport at the highest level.

0:53:18 > 0:53:19The West Indians came

0:53:19 > 0:53:23and said to the cricket culture, "Listen, cricket can be spectacular.

0:53:23 > 0:53:24"It is art."

0:53:24 > 0:53:27We were becoming a force,

0:53:27 > 0:53:28politically.

0:53:28 > 0:53:32They were saying, "This is a West Indian product."

0:53:32 > 0:53:34They are showing on the world stage,

0:53:34 > 0:53:37coming out of the so-called Third World can be excellence.

0:53:39 > 0:53:42There is a wind of change.

0:53:42 > 0:53:45"Let's be better than we've ever been."

0:53:45 > 0:53:49We are on our way to victory,

0:53:49 > 0:53:53of good...over evil.

0:53:53 > 0:53:55Clive Lloyd, you know you're the man.

0:53:55 > 0:53:57Colin Croft - one to the head.

0:53:57 > 0:53:59Six to the chest.

0:53:59 > 0:54:02# Cricket, I'm a sports fan people know that

0:54:02 > 0:54:04# Bowled me a ball and people know that

0:54:04 > 0:54:06# Go! Clive Lloyd Him hit the classics

0:54:06 > 0:54:08# Score - Garner and them saints

0:54:08 > 0:54:11# Aka! Michael Holding bowl the ball like Saddam, Saddam

0:54:11 > 0:54:14# Watch it! That's why Clive Lloyd called me The Cannon.

0:54:14 > 0:54:17# Holla, colla! Man, I'm real Jamaican.

0:54:17 > 0:54:19# You know we're better than the rest.

0:54:19 > 0:54:20# Crow about. #

0:54:27 > 0:54:29We were made to relive

0:54:29 > 0:54:31'75-'76 in Australia.

0:54:33 > 0:54:37Every time the highlights were shown of one of those Test matches,

0:54:37 > 0:54:42you were never given the change to just put it in the back of your mind.

0:54:42 > 0:54:44They kept on focusing on what happened.

0:54:44 > 0:54:46It was so important for those of us

0:54:46 > 0:54:50who had been part of the defeat in 1975

0:54:50 > 0:54:53to have the opportunity to put that right.

0:54:53 > 0:54:57At that stage, Australia were officially number one in the world...

0:54:57 > 0:54:58still.

0:54:58 > 0:55:02The West Indies had never won a Test series in Australia,

0:55:02 > 0:55:05so this would have been breaking new ground.

0:55:06 > 0:55:10We must beat Australia at all costs.

0:55:10 > 0:55:13It didn't matter how we did it - ugly, nice.

0:55:13 > 0:55:17We had to beat them - psychologically, physically,

0:55:17 > 0:55:19every other adverb you could use.

0:55:19 > 0:55:20We were ready.

0:55:20 > 0:55:22CHEERING

0:55:22 > 0:55:26We encountered similar problems that we had in '75-'76,

0:55:26 > 0:55:30They'd walk past you or come down the track and say...

0:55:30 > 0:55:33- "... off," you know? - "Piss off" or "You're a wanker."

0:55:33 > 0:55:37You know, you're coming in to bat. Before you get there,

0:55:37 > 0:55:40Dennis Lillee will say, "I'll knock your effing head off.

0:55:40 > 0:55:41"I'm coming for that."

0:55:41 > 0:55:44And Lennie Pascoe, at one point,

0:55:44 > 0:55:48said he hoped I was going be a hospital case.

0:55:48 > 0:55:51That's now taking the game to a different level.

0:55:51 > 0:55:52They thought when they threw it,

0:55:52 > 0:55:54we were just going to fall over and die

0:55:54 > 0:55:58and remember what happened before, but it wasn't like that.

0:55:58 > 0:56:01It was a completely different story.

0:56:01 > 0:56:04Hits it away! Cuts hard and high.

0:56:04 > 0:56:06They were taken by surprise.

0:56:08 > 0:56:10I wasn't a helmet man. I didn't wear

0:56:10 > 0:56:12all this protective gear.

0:56:12 > 0:56:16I knew that there'd be a lot of forces who'd be looking to get me.

0:56:16 > 0:56:22The message that I sent is that I'd rather die out there.

0:56:22 > 0:56:25The only how I'm going to be not here is if I'm knocked out.

0:56:27 > 0:56:30Oh, nasty blow! Nasty blow.

0:56:33 > 0:56:36Everyone was thinking, "Oh, hell, Viv is going to be damaged."

0:56:36 > 0:56:40And we were expecting Viv to be walking off the field at some point.

0:56:40 > 0:56:45You cannot afford to let your opposition know when you are hurt.

0:56:45 > 0:56:48They'll stand up and look you in the eye

0:56:48 > 0:56:52and I'll look back and we have this little staring match for a while.

0:56:52 > 0:56:55You know you'd got the better of them.

0:56:55 > 0:56:57By the time they turn around

0:56:57 > 0:56:59and passed the umpire and get back to their mark,

0:56:59 > 0:57:02they will take a look around again to see if you're still looking.

0:57:02 > 0:57:06I'd be still looking. That's when they know that you're serious.

0:57:09 > 0:57:11The bouncer coming next ball.

0:57:13 > 0:57:17- What an answer.- And the very next ball, he hit out of the ground.

0:57:17 > 0:57:21Look what you've done, you know. You've just pulled a lion's tail.

0:57:21 > 0:57:24They were saying, "kill" for too long,

0:57:24 > 0:57:27and when Australia done that, it just motivated our players

0:57:27 > 0:57:28to get pretty mean.

0:57:30 > 0:57:33Oh, he took one to the heart. A nasty blow.

0:57:33 > 0:57:35That was a blow that would hurt.

0:57:35 > 0:57:38And Joel Garner saying, "You can wear that one."

0:57:38 > 0:57:40The four guys who we let loose on them...

0:57:40 > 0:57:42He's caught that one, as well.

0:57:42 > 0:57:46- ..were just too much.- It's been a painful day for the Australians.

0:57:47 > 0:57:50The same Australia who were so aggressive,

0:57:50 > 0:57:52all of a sudden, were crying.

0:57:53 > 0:57:56Can you imagine that, from an Australian? I could not believe it.

0:57:57 > 0:58:00The harder they come, the harder they fall.

0:58:00 > 0:58:02When we had the pace and the pace gets

0:58:02 > 0:58:06real hot, they would touch it and they would walk...

0:58:10 > 0:58:12..because the pace is real hot.

0:58:12 > 0:58:16We were talking about a peace truce. That peace truce probably lasted

0:58:16 > 0:58:20for about a game and then it was back to normal again!

0:58:20 > 0:58:24But that is how far it went, at that stage.

0:58:24 > 0:58:28We kept the pressure on them and hammered them into the ground.

0:58:31 > 0:58:32Bumped them out again.

0:58:38 > 0:58:40Wow. That, I think, was special.

0:58:43 > 0:58:45It felt as if we had really achieved something.

0:58:45 > 0:58:47We had learned from our experiences

0:58:47 > 0:58:50and now proven ourselves at the highest level.

0:58:51 > 0:58:56It really was a feeling that West Indies cricket has now

0:58:56 > 0:59:02come of age and we really are the best team in the world.

0:59:09 > 0:59:10# Ooh, yeah!

0:59:13 > 0:59:14# Well, all right!

0:59:17 > 0:59:19# We're jammin'. #

0:59:20 > 0:59:22This was the first time the West Indies

0:59:22 > 0:59:26have produced something which was the best the world had seen.

0:59:26 > 0:59:30Here we are, several dots on the map,

0:59:30 > 0:59:32dominating the world.

0:59:32 > 0:59:35It's difficult to describe the feeling now.

0:59:35 > 0:59:38There was joy beyond words.

0:59:38 > 0:59:41We're on a high. It's celebration time.

0:59:41 > 0:59:44Everything was working out to perfection.

0:59:44 > 0:59:47We went to Pakistan and were the only team

0:59:47 > 0:59:49to beat Pakistan in Pakistan...ever.

0:59:49 > 0:59:51We went to India and beat India.

0:59:51 > 0:59:54Again, that's the only team to have done that.

0:59:54 > 0:59:58West Indies bowling was poetry in motion, at that time.

0:59:58 > 1:00:00We have never seen it since.

1:00:00 > 1:00:03We just wanted to win everything. We wanted to win every game.

1:00:03 > 1:00:07We put our feet on them, kept them down and beat them.

1:00:07 > 1:00:09HE LAUGHS

1:00:09 > 1:00:11You can't beat a team like that.

1:00:11 > 1:00:13How are you going to beat a team like that?

1:00:13 > 1:00:19Then, West Indies began to win so consistently.

1:00:19 > 1:00:22It triggered a pride in the workplace,

1:00:22 > 1:00:23in the way we dressed,

1:00:23 > 1:00:27in the way we went into studios and recorded.

1:00:27 > 1:00:31African culture had been criminalised

1:00:31 > 1:00:34and driven into the ground for 300 years.

1:00:34 > 1:00:37At the first opportunity to be free, to express itself,

1:00:37 > 1:00:40it comes up to the surface and it comes back there again.

1:00:40 > 1:00:44And suddenly, we have this extraordinary emergence

1:00:44 > 1:00:46of culture in the Caribbean.

1:00:48 > 1:00:49Bob Marley and the Wailers,

1:00:49 > 1:00:56Jimmy Cliff, coming with aggression, abrasion and a force of change.

1:00:56 > 1:01:01To combine that with the West Indies cricket success... Unbelievable.

1:01:03 > 1:01:06They thought that we were heroes,

1:01:06 > 1:01:08but to me, THEY were heroes!

1:01:08 > 1:01:12Bob Marley comes to dressing room, telling you you've got to win!

1:01:12 > 1:01:15"Right, Croft, man, we got to get these men out quick."

1:01:15 > 1:01:19Brilliant. It does appear that this forever be the most

1:01:19 > 1:01:21productive time of our lives.

1:01:23 > 1:01:26They start to boast. Instead of being ashamed,

1:01:26 > 1:01:32they can wave their flags and say, "Our heroes made us look good."

1:01:34 > 1:01:37All these tunes are totally inspiring stuff,

1:01:37 > 1:01:40sounding the protest bell.

1:01:40 > 1:01:44# Get up, stand up

1:01:44 > 1:01:47# Stand up for your rights

1:01:47 > 1:01:51# Get up, stand up

1:01:51 > 1:01:54# Stand up for your rights. #

1:01:54 > 1:01:58Stand up, stand up, to me, it's not a crime.

1:01:58 > 1:02:01It is about standing up for what you believe in

1:02:01 > 1:02:02and you walk until it feels

1:02:02 > 1:02:06and it's totally embedded in your mind.

1:02:06 > 1:02:07Your battlefield music.

1:02:07 > 1:02:10I will never, ever forget Viv Richards.

1:02:10 > 1:02:15As I speak about him now, I can picture him right there.

1:02:15 > 1:02:20In his heart burns the custom, culture of Rastafari.

1:02:23 > 1:02:28He was Rastarised, but a lot of people didn't know that came from him

1:02:28 > 1:02:32having to do with Bob Marley. He'd always find himself

1:02:32 > 1:02:34in the company of The Wailers.

1:02:34 > 1:02:38Had he not been involved in cricket, he would have surely

1:02:38 > 1:02:41have been a dreadlocked Rasta man!

1:02:41 > 1:02:44HE LAUGHS

1:02:45 > 1:02:46Real deal!

1:02:47 > 1:02:53Viv was very, very much the darling of Caribbean peoples, you know?

1:02:53 > 1:02:58He was really the extension, philosophically of Clive Lloyd,

1:02:58 > 1:03:01taking it now to a further consciousness

1:03:01 > 1:03:03of spiritual, religious thought.

1:03:03 > 1:03:09Viv was really becoming into the fullness of identity as an African.

1:03:09 > 1:03:14Even his armband that he wore showed the African colours.

1:03:14 > 1:03:17The green for the land itself.

1:03:17 > 1:03:21The yellow for the gold taken away and stripped away.

1:03:21 > 1:03:24The red meant the blood that was shed.

1:03:24 > 1:03:27Those particular colours and what it meant.

1:03:33 > 1:03:34Take time out and play this one

1:03:34 > 1:03:37for our brothers and sisters in South Africa.

1:03:37 > 1:03:40African people, unite, man!

1:03:40 > 1:03:44REGGAE SONG PLAYS

1:03:45 > 1:03:47Tune, brother!

1:04:01 > 1:04:04There was a great sense of sympathy

1:04:04 > 1:04:06for the struggle for independence in Africa,

1:04:06 > 1:04:12be they Mozambique, Zimbabwe or South Africa.

1:04:12 > 1:04:15The anti-apartheid fight, the anti-colonial fight,

1:04:15 > 1:04:19was very much part of the Caribbean struggle also.

1:04:19 > 1:04:21You felt seriously embodied with the folks

1:04:21 > 1:04:24who were suffering in South Africa.

1:04:24 > 1:04:27This human injustice taking place for so many years.

1:04:27 > 1:04:31It was a real sense of horror. Black people were being just shot down

1:04:31 > 1:04:34mercilessly and particularly those Alsatian dogs

1:04:34 > 1:04:38running through Soweto, biting up people et cetera.

1:04:38 > 1:04:41It brought tears to the eyes of Caribbean watchers, man.

1:04:41 > 1:04:43There was always the feeling

1:04:43 > 1:04:46that we could do everything to assist them,

1:04:46 > 1:04:49not only in song and in cultural expressions

1:04:49 > 1:04:52but in the field of cricket also,

1:04:52 > 1:04:56in imposing sanctions against South Africa.

1:04:56 > 1:04:5917 West Indian cricketers are to play in a country

1:04:59 > 1:05:02which has been banned from international cricket

1:05:02 > 1:05:04because of its apartheid policies.

1:05:04 > 1:05:08So that it was a great abhorrence when some of our cricketers

1:05:08 > 1:05:11defied the sanctions and played in South Africa.

1:05:11 > 1:05:14This is a major propaganda coup for South Africa.

1:05:14 > 1:05:18The fact that they are black will be seen as giving some credibility

1:05:18 > 1:05:20to the South African regime.

1:05:20 > 1:05:22Most Caribbean people were in shock.

1:05:22 > 1:05:25How can you go and support a regime like that?

1:05:25 > 1:05:28As Pankhurst said, every man has his price.

1:05:28 > 1:05:32Money is everybody's god, let's be honest.

1:05:32 > 1:05:33You had to look after yourself.

1:05:33 > 1:05:37The team is believed to include Colin Croft,

1:05:37 > 1:05:39lured by the £70,000 contract.

1:05:39 > 1:05:42Former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley said

1:05:42 > 1:05:45the rebel players were mercenaries.

1:05:45 > 1:05:46I'm a mercenary?

1:05:46 > 1:05:50When I went to world series cricket, was I not a mercenary then?

1:05:50 > 1:05:53I'm not sure I understand the differences.

1:05:53 > 1:05:56It's not a game. It's my livelihood. This is my job.

1:05:56 > 1:06:01We wanted to know, "Who else is going? Who else are they after?"

1:06:02 > 1:06:07Every man has his price. How he conducts himself will determine

1:06:07 > 1:06:10how he will rate in history.

1:06:10 > 1:06:14Well, it was an open cheque, basically, for my figure at the time.

1:06:14 > 1:06:18If I had signed then, then I think we would have had the exodus.

1:06:18 > 1:06:23I think West Indies team would have dismantled at that particular period.

1:06:23 > 1:06:27I felt that I had to show some leadership,

1:06:27 > 1:06:31not going to the apartheid regime in South Africa.

1:06:31 > 1:06:34I will not go. They cannot pay me enough money.

1:06:34 > 1:06:38The sacrifices Viv Richards made is really heroic.

1:06:38 > 1:06:42I see a serious correlation between Muhammad Ali and Viv Richards.

1:06:42 > 1:06:46One throwing away a medal, refusing to fight an unjust war, and the other

1:06:46 > 1:06:51refusing to take a million dollar cheque from an unjust society.

1:06:51 > 1:06:54One of the things on the table was that whilst there,

1:06:54 > 1:06:56you're going to be an honorary white...

1:06:59 > 1:07:03How can a black man be an honorary white man?

1:07:03 > 1:07:07What is wrong with the colour of my skin?

1:07:07 > 1:07:10What is wrong with my ethnicity?

1:07:10 > 1:07:14Why should anyone tell me I've got to be an honorary anything

1:07:14 > 1:07:15apart from what I am?

1:07:15 > 1:07:19These guys have sold out having now accepted the term "honorary white".

1:07:19 > 1:07:23If they paid them enough money they'd be willing to even accept chains

1:07:23 > 1:07:26on their ankles. I was disgusted.

1:07:28 > 1:07:32Those rebel cricketers were bringing down the wrath of our ancestors

1:07:32 > 1:07:35and they were bringing down the curses of the African spirits

1:07:35 > 1:07:38by having betrayed the cause of African rebellion

1:07:38 > 1:07:40and of African liberation.

1:07:42 > 1:07:44I had an incident in South Africa.

1:07:44 > 1:07:47I was asked to remove myself from a train carriage

1:07:47 > 1:07:49because it was for whites only.

1:07:49 > 1:07:51That's... It's not fine.

1:07:51 > 1:07:55A lot of people can say, well, I embarrassed the Caribbean.

1:07:55 > 1:07:58I take whatever comes with it.

1:07:58 > 1:08:01West Indian cricket authorities have banned its players

1:08:01 > 1:08:05who defied an international boycott and gone to play in South Africa.

1:08:07 > 1:08:10They were destroyed. Their career were toned down,

1:08:10 > 1:08:13their respect was...you know...

1:08:13 > 1:08:16to the dust, to the garbage.

1:08:16 > 1:08:18Caribbean people just ostracised them,

1:08:18 > 1:08:21just cast them out the map totally.

1:08:21 > 1:08:24Their lives were generally made very miserable.

1:08:24 > 1:08:26Nothing good ever came of many of them.

1:08:26 > 1:08:28Some of them were thought to have gone kinky,

1:08:28 > 1:08:31getting hooked on cocaine or other debilitating drugs.

1:08:31 > 1:08:33That's another devilish curse.

1:08:33 > 1:08:37I had heard that some of the players who came back

1:08:37 > 1:08:38were badly treated.

1:08:38 > 1:08:41I had heard that some of them had fallen on hard times.

1:08:41 > 1:08:43But when I came back from South Africa

1:08:43 > 1:08:47I didn't come back to the West Indies, I went to Florida.

1:08:47 > 1:08:50It hurt to not be a part of that team.

1:08:50 > 1:08:54Being able to walk down the street, hold your head high -

1:08:54 > 1:08:57that was better than millionaires. That was better than gold.

1:08:57 > 1:09:00These guys will always be my friends

1:09:00 > 1:09:03regardless of the decisions that they've made in life.

1:09:03 > 1:09:05I'm not in any position to judge anyone,

1:09:05 > 1:09:07but the jury's out there.

1:09:11 > 1:09:14I met Desmond Tutu and he said

1:09:14 > 1:09:17Nelson Mandela appreciated what the West Indies was doing at the time.

1:09:17 > 1:09:19Thank you so much in helping

1:09:19 > 1:09:23to dismantle the apartheid regime and helping the afflictment

1:09:23 > 1:09:26of some of our struggling brothers and sisters.

1:09:26 > 1:09:29When I heard that, I was rather moved.

1:09:29 > 1:09:35Wow. They knew who we were and they knew exactly the part you played.

1:09:35 > 1:09:37We felt very appreciated, yeah.

1:09:44 > 1:09:48The struggle goes on. Even though you are winning as much as you are,

1:09:48 > 1:09:52you've got to be so aware and be watchful.

1:09:52 > 1:09:54That's when the evil side of things

1:09:54 > 1:09:58and the racism can easily catch you off guard.

1:09:58 > 1:10:01You stop taking the punches now and start giving some.

1:10:01 > 1:10:04All of a sudden, some have a problem with that.

1:10:22 > 1:10:27Every time there have been successful black expressions

1:10:27 > 1:10:29be it culturally, sporting or politically,

1:10:29 > 1:10:32there have been attempts to bring it down.

1:10:32 > 1:10:37The English press have always been very, very, VERY damaging.

1:10:37 > 1:10:40How we suffered the amount of pressure that

1:10:40 > 1:10:42the English press used to put us on.

1:10:42 > 1:10:45I loathe it. I think this cricket is rubbish.

1:10:45 > 1:10:49What you're doing is you're staging a human coconut shy.

1:10:49 > 1:10:53Some of the players thought the level of criticism was racial.

1:10:53 > 1:10:56Because they couldn't get to you, colour was always the next thing.

1:10:56 > 1:11:00I don't suppose they expected the success to have gone on so long.

1:11:00 > 1:11:03They just thought that "They'll fall soon.

1:11:03 > 1:11:06"A couple of years, then they'll be back where we know them to be."

1:11:06 > 1:11:10They wanted the old-style West Indies of entertaining and losing.

1:11:10 > 1:11:13When that changed, all of a sudden people didn't like that idea.

1:11:13 > 1:11:17This is the body armour required against the West Indies.

1:11:17 > 1:11:19Self-preservation is the name of the game.

1:11:19 > 1:11:24We're never given credit. We were always being looked upon as though

1:11:24 > 1:11:28our success was mainly through intimidation.

1:11:28 > 1:11:31Those other things will make me lose my cool.

1:11:31 > 1:11:35People who didn't have fast bowlers were the ones who were critical.

1:11:37 > 1:11:40'Jimmy Adams has a chance under it. He's caught it!'

1:11:41 > 1:11:45Let no one fool you. Everyone wanted to have fast bowlers the way we did.

1:11:45 > 1:11:48Everyone.

1:11:48 > 1:11:51There was jealousy. It went to the very top.

1:11:51 > 1:11:56The English people in authority started to restrict the West Indies,

1:11:56 > 1:11:59different rules and limitations on how you can bowl the ball.

1:11:59 > 1:12:01It was just too much.

1:12:01 > 1:12:06They did everything to stifle the success of West Indies cricket

1:12:06 > 1:12:08and they always thought that they would kill us.

1:12:11 > 1:12:15Going to England in 1984, we wanted to send the message

1:12:15 > 1:12:18that when we are hurt, we'll come out fighting.

1:12:18 > 1:12:22The drive against England, it was a matter of making sure that

1:12:22 > 1:12:24what we started, we were going to finish.

1:12:24 > 1:12:26"Can we do it again? Let's go out there

1:12:26 > 1:12:29"and prove that the first one wasn't a fake."

1:12:35 > 1:12:40A great occasion of the summer - England and the West Indies.

1:12:40 > 1:12:42Two teams locked in battle.

1:12:42 > 1:12:47'A very, very important stand, this, for England.'

1:12:47 > 1:12:50England had very good players during that period.

1:12:50 > 1:12:52Some of the best in the world.

1:12:52 > 1:12:55And some fiery exchanges out there.

1:12:59 > 1:13:00They could compete.

1:13:00 > 1:13:02So much immense pressure.

1:13:02 > 1:13:07The English were saying that this is the best chance to beat us.

1:13:07 > 1:13:10It was a "who would draw first blood?" situation.

1:13:12 > 1:13:16- 'Great shot.' - 'A good start by England.'

1:13:16 > 1:13:18'Then Botham breaks through.

1:13:18 > 1:13:21'Lovely display of aggression.

1:13:21 > 1:13:23'And Allan Lamb goes to a century.'

1:13:23 > 1:13:27That Test match at Lord's, they were in the ascendancy.

1:13:27 > 1:13:31'The West Indies deep in trouble now.'

1:13:31 > 1:13:34I can remember wondering to myself, "Are we going to win this game?"

1:13:38 > 1:13:39Facing the fire.

1:13:39 > 1:13:41It was pressure for me.

1:13:41 > 1:13:44"Is today going to be my day?"

1:13:44 > 1:13:49All these things would have gone through those years of hurt

1:13:49 > 1:13:51now have to be put in focus.

1:13:56 > 1:14:00MUSIC: "Could You Be Loved?" by Bob Marley and the Wailers

1:14:08 > 1:14:10'That's an extraordinary stroke.'

1:14:19 > 1:14:22'And that went off like a rocket.'

1:14:22 > 1:14:25'The West Indian spectators are delirious.'

1:14:25 > 1:14:28When Gordon is at his best, I tell you, it's brilliant to watch.

1:14:28 > 1:14:31And that day at Lord's, you know, he just looked unstoppable.

1:14:31 > 1:14:34He was just in awesome form.

1:14:34 > 1:14:37Flying it on all parts of the ground.

1:14:37 > 1:14:41I applauded him all the way back to the pavilion.

1:14:41 > 1:14:42214, not out.

1:14:42 > 1:14:46And what seemed to be an almost unstoppable assignment

1:14:46 > 1:14:49has turned out to be an absolute doddle.

1:14:49 > 1:14:52And I think that was the defining moment that we felt

1:14:52 > 1:14:55that we could come from the brink, regardless of whatever.

1:14:55 > 1:14:57We were now fighters. We didn't know when we were beaten.

1:14:57 > 1:15:00Nothing was too daunting for us.

1:15:02 > 1:15:07And out of that spirit emerged this youngster called Malcolm Marshall.

1:15:09 > 1:15:13Once Malcolm Marshall went out, you knew that he was going to produce.

1:15:13 > 1:15:15CHEERING

1:15:15 > 1:15:19Malcolm was a guy who just exuded this sort of sort of brilliance.

1:15:19 > 1:15:24The future of bowling was always there. That was Malcolm.

1:15:24 > 1:15:27Malcolm Marshall bearing a double fracture.

1:15:27 > 1:15:29He broke his hand, it was in plaster.

1:15:29 > 1:15:31I said, "You think you can play with that?"

1:15:31 > 1:15:33He said, "If you want me to, I will."

1:15:33 > 1:15:38To see him come out with one arm in a plaster of Paris,

1:15:38 > 1:15:40I think made him a giant of a man, really.

1:15:40 > 1:15:45Here was a guy who is in excruciating pain running out

1:15:45 > 1:15:48to bowl at the speed of light. Then goes out and bats.

1:15:48 > 1:15:50And won the game for us.

1:15:52 > 1:15:54That showed the spirit of our team.

1:15:55 > 1:15:58The statement made, you know, just very, very powerful.

1:15:58 > 1:16:01'He needs his glasses to believe this.'

1:16:01 > 1:16:05It's not just the man out in the field bowling the ball.

1:16:05 > 1:16:07Him trying to get the opponent.

1:16:07 > 1:16:11It's the man watching the radio who says we are going to bowl him now.

1:16:11 > 1:16:13We have to get him now.

1:16:13 > 1:16:17And I have seen this happening.

1:16:17 > 1:16:20# Dem thump him in the belly and him turn to jelly... #

1:16:20 > 1:16:22Boo at the man!

1:16:22 > 1:16:25- There's the genuine bouncer. - Gone, him gone! Him gone!

1:16:27 > 1:16:29How is that?

1:16:29 > 1:16:32- A real whirlwind out there. - Seeing the stumps flying,

1:16:32 > 1:16:36- feel like the game going to be over. - That was top-class stuff.

1:16:36 > 1:16:39Big noise in the place, man. They get what they want.

1:16:39 > 1:16:42'No fun, I can tell you, for any England batsman.'

1:16:42 > 1:16:44That's the kind of unification.

1:16:44 > 1:16:49That's the kind of willpower that the people developed.

1:16:49 > 1:16:53# And crash, I'm dead. #

1:16:53 > 1:16:55You have just seen something totally brutal

1:16:55 > 1:16:58and all that it needed was the finishing touches.

1:17:00 > 1:17:03At the end of four Test matches, we were 4-0 up.

1:17:03 > 1:17:05We could have taken the foot off the gas.

1:17:05 > 1:17:08We never played cricket like that, not the team I had played for anyway.

1:17:08 > 1:17:10# Don't let them fool you... #

1:17:10 > 1:17:12We were humiliating them.

1:17:12 > 1:17:15We were really making them grovel

1:17:15 > 1:17:18by their not being allowed to win even one Test.

1:17:18 > 1:17:20# Or even try to school ya... #

1:17:20 > 1:17:23There was this feeling that we could be looking at 5-0.

1:17:24 > 1:17:27- The vibe starts. - 'He's gone mad.'

1:17:27 > 1:17:30I run down with this flag.

1:17:30 > 1:17:32Everyone went crazy.

1:17:32 > 1:17:34You're talking about a tremendous amount of energy.

1:17:34 > 1:17:38I can imagine the noise on the various islands.

1:17:38 > 1:17:41I could feel the passion the people felt.

1:17:41 > 1:17:45Botham's gone.

1:17:45 > 1:17:47All these guys had a very special message.

1:17:47 > 1:17:49I think we are an equal power in here.

1:17:51 > 1:17:54Babylon - it's not a place.

1:17:54 > 1:17:57It's a practice that is unrighteous.

1:17:57 > 1:18:00Me not rating you because of your colour,

1:18:00 > 1:18:03not treating each other as human beings.

1:18:03 > 1:18:05That is Babylon.

1:18:05 > 1:18:07The English had difficulty

1:18:07 > 1:18:10in recognising what West Indians had done for cricket.

1:18:10 > 1:18:14But guess what, I think they came to like it.

1:18:14 > 1:18:17This was going to change the game for ever.

1:18:17 > 1:18:19And it was going to bring value.

1:18:19 > 1:18:24That is what you call cultural exchange in its finest sense.

1:18:24 > 1:18:27Live for yourself, you live in vain.

1:18:27 > 1:18:29Live for others, you live again.

1:18:29 > 1:18:31One love.

1:18:31 > 1:18:36They're a part of us, whatever we did, whatever we achieved,

1:18:36 > 1:18:38we brought a lot of powers to people.

1:18:38 > 1:18:41To the people who were struggling.

1:18:41 > 1:18:43When we defeated England,

1:18:43 > 1:18:46beaten them at every Test in the series,

1:18:46 > 1:18:48represented a reversal of our humiliation

1:18:48 > 1:18:51and our full flowering as a cricketing power.

1:18:51 > 1:18:56Even from changing it from whitewash and calling it now "blackwash".

1:18:56 > 1:18:59Black is beautiful. Black is bright.

1:19:03 > 1:19:07That to me, epitomised everything that we represented

1:19:07 > 1:19:10the bravery, wanting to succeed.

1:19:10 > 1:19:13A true West Indian feeling.

1:19:13 > 1:19:16There was a lot that we had to overcome.

1:19:16 > 1:19:19We did not complain and here we are,

1:19:19 > 1:19:23one of the greatest sporting teams in the history of team sports.

1:19:28 > 1:19:33To be around people who you had an enormous amount of respect for,

1:19:33 > 1:19:36and to have been able to do that with them, is special, yeah.

1:19:44 > 1:19:47All right, let me cut it short.

1:19:47 > 1:19:50This was like slave whipping the asses of masters.

1:19:53 > 1:19:56These are rare moments in one's life.

1:19:56 > 1:20:00Especially with the struggles that one would have been through.

1:20:00 > 1:20:03- It is history that you will never forget.- That is what it was.

1:20:20 > 1:20:23# I see your face in front of me, still grainy

1:20:23 > 1:20:25# From that old black-and-white TV

1:20:25 > 1:20:29# My whole family's silent, watching you shape destiny with your two hands

1:20:29 > 1:20:31# Faster than the eye can see now

1:20:31 > 1:20:34# Mesmerising. #

1:20:36 > 1:20:41An undisputed fact that between February/March of 1980,

1:20:41 > 1:20:43and February/March of 1995,

1:20:43 > 1:20:48the West Indians did not lose a Test series. 15 years.

1:20:48 > 1:20:51They did not lose a Test series.

1:20:51 > 1:20:55And no other sporting team in any discipline anywhere in the world

1:20:55 > 1:20:57dominated their sport for 15 years.

1:20:57 > 1:20:59And we are very proud of that.

1:20:59 > 1:21:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd