Eventually, time catches up with everyone. Terror to the batters in his playing days, Sir Wesley Hall, now 87, stands as a testament to the wear and tear of life’s journey through ages. A fiery quick pacer with a strong built and tall frame, who sent chills down the spine of batters with his imposingly fast run-up and high speed deliveries, Sir Hall is now a weak, frail man who mumbles slowly rather than speaking in his once-powerful baritone.
With age, it is evident that Hall has also developed a profound introspective view of life, cricket and career. It is more philosophical than pragmatic when he talks about one’s career. However illustrious a career may be, at the end of it all, it is inevitably reduced to just numbers.
“The problem with cricket now is… they look at what’s happening in another 10, 20, 30, 40 years. Everything is going to be your stats. Nobody’s going to remember who the bowler was or anything like that. They’ll be looking at the stats. That’s how it is,” Sir Hall, who has 198 wickets in 48 Tests at a strikingly impressive average of 26, said during an interaction with media at the Kensington Oval on Tuesday.
Needing assistance to walk and struggling to express, he nevertheless retains memories of significant milestones in world cricket. The great Indian fightback of 2020-21 Down Under is well etched in his fading memory. “In Adelaide, about two or three years [four] ago, India were playing Australia and India got bowled out for 48 [36]. But you know, they won the next two Tests [two of the next three].
“So what I’m saying is you might do that for a day or a month, you know, but a good player will adapt,” Sir Hall, pointed out. He was talking about the Indian team and their chances in the ongoing World Cup.
“The World Cups are usually played in various grounds and you’re going to have something coming up that you haven’t seen before and things like that. But cricketers are people who can adapt to the situations and that’s why they’re so great, the great players. They will adapt to the situation.”
The legend was at the Oval to present his biography, ‘Answering the Call – The extraordinary life of Sir Wesley Hall, to a few Indian players. Among those who received his autographed book were Robit Sharma, Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli, with whom he spent some time talking. “I gave three books today, to the captain and another one to the coach. I wanted three of them because they were/are great players,” he said and went on to answer the persistent queries about his impressions about Kohli.
“I just told him that he’s the best batsman in the world. I can’t say any more than that. If anybody told me I’m the best boy in the world, I’d say, thank you.”
There were posers about Jasprit Bumrah too. He recalled that he could remember only one true fast bowler from India, Kapil Dev, although he thinks the current lot, spearheaded by Bumrah, is very good.
“The point is, I’d rather get you out than hit you. You know what I mean? I think Indian fast bowling is top class. It doesn’t really matter who gets the first wicket or the second one, but you know that they’re good enough to deal with it. And that’s the way you should look at it. You want your bowlers to be [like that]. Look at your fast bowlers. When I played, you had one fast bowler. I mean, one genuinely fast bowler. That was Kapil Dev. And a lot of spinners, a lot of great spinners. But things have changed. I think they’ve [fast bowlers] have done very well for India.”
Sir Hall said he likes to see fast bowlers that are big and imposing, like the ‘Big Bird’ Joel Garner, for example. “You have to remember that immediately after we left the scene – Hall retired in 1969 – we had about 21 fast bowlers in the West Indies. Some of them couldn’t get in the side like some of your batsmen [Indian batsmen] did not get inside. I like a paceman that is six feet [tall], like how Big Bird used to be, or one from Antigua, [Curtly], Ambrose was. These fellas, you know, when they bowl, they were able to get that bounce. Batsmen, you’re not going to get runs!”
His view on Caribbean cricket, whose players prefer franchise cricket to the West Indies team, was marked with a sense of philosophical pragmatism. “At one time we had some very great players, but they weren’t playing Test cricket. That’s the problem, you see. If I’m from the proletariat and I don’t have any money and somebody offered me a million dollars for four years, well, then I could not really refuse it.”
But he is not worried about the state of West Indies cricket of the present. “Well, I would say as of to-date, I’m not concerned. If you told me two years ago, I would be very concerned. And that’s what happens. You just need to get some players who will stick with you.”
Hall spent hours, days, weeks, months and years in Barbados which used to have pitches that were a nightmare for the batters. But over the years, they have changed to the point that the batters have started relishing the conditions. He thinks the pitches can only be pacy and bouncy if the team has quality fast bowlers.
“You can be dropping pigeons. If you see what has happened in Adelaide. They have drop-in pitches. We don’t all have the money to get drop-in pitches. There’s no point having drop-in pitches unless you have good fast bowlers,” Hall said, struggling to articulate his point but never missing it, much like he never missed being at his fiery best while bowling in his prime.
Age, sure, has slowed him down, but it has not affected his unwavering passion for the West Indies cricket. That was the impression one gets of Sir Wesley Hall – frail, weak and 87, but fire still in the belly for the West Indies cricket.