The West Indies team’s greatest successes in World Cricket came in 1975 and 1979, when they won the one day Cricket World Cup. It was a gargantuan performance, led from the front by the then captain Clive Lloyd. Clive Lloyd was born on August 31, 1944, Georgetown, British Guiana now known as Guyana. He was from a poor family and left school at the age of 14 to support his family by becoming a clerk at the local hospital before becoming a full time cricketer. He made his test debut in 1966 and went on to become one of the longest serving captain and players in West Indies cricket history. Looking like the Hulk from Stan Lee’s comics, Lloyd wasn’t the ideal choice for becoming the West Indies captain, but when he became one, he was the best captain in the world. As captain, he led the West Indies to two World Cup championships and a record 36 Test victories, including 11 consecutive wins.
The acid test for Clive Lloyd came in the 1975 world cup semi-finals, where the New Zealanders were in the driving seat with a 90 run partnership between Glen Turner and Geoff Howarth. Then Lloyd initiated a bowling change which broke through the partnership and stopped the New Zealanders at 158. West Indies responded suitably with some good batting between Alvin Kallicharan and Gordon Greenidge for the second wicket which brought them home. The finals saw a captain’s knock by Clive, 102 off 85, which ensured their victory against the Aussie side. In the 1979 world cup, the West Indies cruised to the semi- finals, thanks to the awesome captaincy of Clive Lloyd. The challenge this time came in the final match against England. This time round the West Indians chose to bat first, which soon led to a top-order collapse with Lloyd himself getting out cheaply. The damage control was led by Vivian Richards and Collis King, both of them putting up a partnership of 139 runs. The partnership ended with Collis falling, wherein Richards stepped in and with the tail put up an imposing 286. When England came out to bat, Clive Lloyd strategically turned on the aggression, forcing England to score at an extremely slow pace. Though not losing wickets, England scored slowly with Geoff Boycott and Mike Brearley put on a 129 run first wicket partnership. The strategy had however worked, with the run rate becoming too steep when both the batsman left the crease. Soon a panic attack occurred and England lost 8 wickets for 11 runs leading West Indies to win.
Clive Lloyd’s biggest captaincy debacle occurred in the 1983 Prudential World Cup, where he lost the finals to India led by the then captain Kapil Dev. Clive Lloyd has been described as a revolutionary figure. His style of captaincy was hugely different from the ones practiced in those days. In the 1970’s the trend was to have a mixed bowling attack, with 2 spinners and 2 pacers. With the paucity of quality spin, Lloyd decided to use 4 pacers instead. In order to win however, he strategically chose induce fear into the minds of the opposition to weaken their morale and break them. It has been stated by many a player that the fast bowlers of West Indies at that time were one of the most fearsome looking, with deliveries which seemed like bullets. Clive Lloyd has stated that it was difficult for him to be a captain. He says that the captain must always be thinking, and must always be understood. His strategic thinking coupled with his understanding of men and situations certainly makes him one of the best captains of all time.