He stated that he was so exhausted when he got home that he took a bath and went straight to bed. It was not long before he was into a deep sleep and had what he described as a very insightful and sometimes funny dream about cricket in Barbados.
He said that in his dream the Legends of Barbados, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Everton Weekes, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, Carlisle Best, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge and so on, were so incensed by the inability of the Barbados Cricket Association to get the skills of the cricketers and the standard of cricket back to what it was in the 80s, when you could have had about three Barbados cricket teams, that they decided to take matters into their hands. They said that it was their mission to save Barbados' cricket.
They gathered all the youngsters in the island, those who had shown potential in school cricket, those youngsters who were considered to be the next generation. Players like Kraigg Braithwaite, Anthony Alleyne, Kyle Hope, Shane Dowrich to name a few.
They scouted around the island and rounded up some tall strapping youngsters who they said would be developed into fast bowlers, because they felt that the present players had lost pride in representing their country.
Thoughts of money only
They were of the impression that today's cricketers only thought was in how much money they could make. They gathered who they considered to be the best coaches in the island and dictated to them what they wanted taught to the youngsters. Every Saturday and Sunday and on selected weekdays, the Wanderers Club was a hive of activity with these coaching sessions.
One commentator kept appearing in the dream saying that Sir Allen Stanford was funding the venture. This often got the legends very angry.
The legends were not directly involved with the coaching but had specific responsibility with aspects of the coaching. For instance, Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith – fast bowling, Sir Everton, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes – batting, Sir Garfield looked after the all rounders, and David Murray the little master looked after the wicketkeepers.
Dr Rudy Webster was an integral part of the sessions; he continually emphasised to the players about their inner strength and how they needed to fight harder when the chips appeared to be against them. Almost immediately, improvement in skill and attitude could be seen in the youngsters. The legends were always at hand to motivate and counsel these players.
They informed the players of their plans of selecting them to tour Test playing countries; players at age 15, 17 and 19 years. They told them that these experiences would be invaluable
to them. These young lads were continually reminded about what cricket meant to the people of Barbados and the wider Caribbean.
They were taught about the history of West Indies cricket and were shown videos of the heydays when the West Indies team was successful.
The lads had sessions where they were involved in discussions on cricket on a tactical level, discussing their own faults and those of the players they saw on videos. All the while this was coordinated by the legends.
Tony Cozier provided training for the players on how to handle interviews and the media, while a top nutritionist provided training on proper diet.
A mentorship programme was also established and those players who had continual problems with indiscipline were dismissed from the programme.
The Barbados team competing in the regional competition was now made up of these youngsters and they won the competition. The legends' model was introduced to the other islands. It was evident that once again hope was possible for West Indies cricket.
He said that what had him cracking up was that Hall had seen a popular commentator showing a youngster how to play a cover drive. He snatched the bat from him and was chasing the commentator while the other legends were all laughing and saying there is never a dull moment when he is around.
Chasie said that after the present Carib Cup competition he hoped that the legends would do what they had to do soon. Before saying goodbye to Chasie, I warned him that he was an old man and that he should stop trying to impress the young ladies before he suffered a heart attack. He laughed all the while saying they keep the heart pumping.
Mike Worrell is a former Barbados wicketkeeper and West Indies "B" player.