Ian Bishop was known to instill fear among batsmen during his heyday. Though his career was cut short due to a serious back problem, the express bowler's nine-year stint alongside legendary Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose was halted twice before he called it quits in 1998.


Ian Bishop

Bishop took time out to speak on issues related to fast bowling and West Indies cricket in a free-wheeling chat with MiD DAY recently.


West Indies players celebrate the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar at the
Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 26. Pic/AFP

Excerpts:
How do you compare this West Indies side vis-a-vis the teams in 1970s and 1980s?
It's obviously difficult to match the golden era of West Indies cricket. But most importantly, now what we are seeing in the last few months is a young team that has been given a mandate to groom themselves in the next two or three years. Now, we have to see if they can perform a lot more to potential in the next couple of years. Already we are seeing better batting and also a slight improvement in the bowling department. So forget about the 70s, 80s and early 90s. After that there has been a long period of transition. I expect few good players coming on the circuit from this bunch.

Why has the transition period being so long?
Just because of not having proper administration in place. There was no systematic development of the game for long. The players with talent have always been there. Definitely, we will be finding talent and sharing space with them will take us to another level. You need to administer the game properly which we have not done for years. It will be enlightening to see how the new dispensation that has been in place for the last couple of years fare in this aspect. They will have to try and get the players perform to the optimum.